Riders of Berk (my version)
by Snow32Lily
Summary: 16 episodes of the adventures of Hiccup and her friends, their struggles of coexisting with dragons, and Hiccup's struggles of being a Hybrid amongst a man determined to destroy her and all she believes. Hybrid!Hiccup Female!Hiccup
1. How to Start a Dragon Academy

**Hello everyone. Yes, these episodes will be posted weekly. Or, at least I'll try. In that time, I might post a Song** **fic; I might not, but who knows? That is more of a spontaneous thing. If you do have seen the first drabble and/or you have any suggestions feel free to tell me so. I'm always open to suggestions and criticism.**

* * *

 **How** _ **to Start a Dragon Academy**_

 _This is Berk, a place where Vikings and Dragons now live in peace. For many generations it was Viking against Dragon; the battles were ferocious. But, then one day, everything changed. I met Toothless, and together we've shown people here that instead of fighting dragons we can ride them, live with them, even train them. Since I've met him, he's taught me so much about dragons—about myself. My Dragonese is getting a little better, and my flying is improving too, with Toothless and some of the other dragons coaching me. My village has seemed to except the dragon side of me. In fact, I don't really think they care. I guess my dad must have already explained everything. Ever since I woke up from my coma, no one has even asked me about it. But even then, with how much progress our village has gone through, the road to complete peace and acceptance isn't easy. Take this week for example…_

* * *

Hiccup and Toothless were flying over the village to a sea stack she and her friends agreed to meet that afternoon. They were going to show off their best tricks, and she knew she and Toothless were going to win. Again.

"Alright gang, best trick competition. Who's up first?" she said as she landed beside Aric and Shadowstar.

"Me", Snotlout said arrogantly, striking a pose.

"Actually I think it's—"

"Me", he interrupted Fishlegs.

"Sweet baby Thor in a thunderstorm, Go!" Aric shouted, growing impatient and frustrated.

"Oh, don't worry, we'll go. And when we go Hookfang and I are going to light the sky on Firrree!"

Hookfang, in an attempt to teach his rider a lesson on respect, flew off the sea stack into a steep dive, leveling out and flying as fast and as crazy as he wanted, causing Snotlout to scream with terror. Hookfang then dived into the sea, pulled out, and returned to the other riders and dragons as if nothing happened, but quite satisfied.

"I'm alive?" Snotlout asked surprised. "I'm alive! O-of course I am", he said returning to his original arrogant self.

"It's my turn!" Fishlegs exclaimed excitedly. "Ready Meatlug?"

 **"You know it!"**

"Here we go."

Meatlug knew Fishlegs could only handle so much, so they always went slow. For the past months they had been together she was simply getting Fishlegs used to flying, and this was what they showed as their trick. She slowly flew away from the sea stack a little, then circled back nice and slow. Fishlegs didn't freak out at all the entire time, and she was so proud.

As they landed Fishlegs was proud as well. "Yes! New personal best."

He hugged her and Meatlug licked him to show her affection back.

 **"You were great"** , she said even though she knew he didn't understand.

"My turn!" Ruffnut shouted.

"No my turn!" Her brother retorted.

"Guys, same dragon?" Hiccup interjected.

 **"You sure they can remember to breathe?"** Toothless asked her.

"Oh right", Tuff said. They bumped fists, and had Barf and Belch leap off the sea stack.

Not even a moment later the two ran into trouble with an oncoming sea stack and the two were bickering, pulling their own head left and right unable to agree which direction to turn resulting in the two heads colliding with a thud.

 **"I'm honestly not"** , Hiccup answered quietly to Toothless, as she witnessed the scene.

They narrowly missed the pillar of rock, and Barf and Belch had decided they had enough. They threw their riders into the air, caught them shortly after, threw them back onto their backs and then returned to where they started with the twins flopped on their necks.

"We almost died", Ruffnut stated breathless.

"I know, go again?" Tuffnut asked excitedly.

Ruffnut was about to agree when Astrid butted in. "Hey! It's my turn? Come on girl, show them what you've got!"

The two took off, and Astrid began to instruct Stormfly.

"Alright Stormfly, tail flip!" Her dragon did so, curling her tail into the water.

"Now twirl!" Stormfly did as instructed still flying fast.

"Quick! Upwards spiral!" As their finale Stormfly twirled upwards as Astrid told her to, stopping high in the air.

"Alright Stormfly!" She exclaimed, her fist in the air with victory.

"Yeah. But can you do it without the dragon?" Snotlout asked sarcastically, "Ow", receiving a punch from her.

"Wow… yeah, that was truly amazing sis", Aric started, "But I think Shadowstar and I have got ya beat this time."

" _You_ might want to take notes", he said turning to Hiccup.

She looked to him with determination in her eyes as he and Shadowstar took off. Together the duo weaved their way through the sea stacks with ease. They spun, and dove with precision, and near expertise. Their only mistake was when doing a twirl Shadowstar lost balance at the finish causing them to stumble and nearly crash into a sea stack. Aric silently cursed at that and once they were done, returned to their friends still pretty sure that they won despite the mistake.

"Great job girl", he praised his dragon with a pet on her head. He then motioned for Hiccup to go competitively.

"Well looks like we got our work cut out for us, eh bud?" she asked.

 **"Ha! Yeah right. Let's show these armatures how it's done."**

Toothless sped off turning backwards and down into a steep dive. Hiccup waited until they were just about to hit the water when she pulled on the reigns to tell Toothless to pull out, resulting in a wake behind them. They weaved through the sea stacks with precision and speed as Aric, but even more so. The duo then came onto an arch and Hiccup prepared to show everyone the trick she and Toothless had been preparing since weeks before Snoggletog. Using the new modification to Toothless' tail fin, she locked it in place, and stood crouched on his back. Once they came close, she leaped up, spread her wings, straitened her tail, and smoothly glided above as he glided below. When they both reached the other side she tucked her wings back in and straitened herself perpendicular to land back into the saddle. She landed, and Toothless pulled up with victory plasma blasts firing into the sky.

"They're still the best", Aric remarked, accepting defeat, looking up at them.

"Another win", Hiccup said to Toothless.

" **As usual"** , Toothless replied.

* * *

 _Most people on Berk would say life here is better since we made peace with the dragons. Unfortunately, dragons are still, well, dragons. They would steal people's food, disturb people's homes or run through their laundry for some mundane examples. But the worst flaw had to be at three o'clock._

* * *

"In coming."

"Look out!"

"Dragon poo."

Everyone scattered to avoid the dragons flying overhead letting their loads loose over the village. Hiccup narrowly escaped backing up to Mulch, a short and stout man with a big brown beard, and Bucket, a taller man with a long blond beard and a bucket he always wore on his head. They both had sticks stuck into shields as umbrellas.

"Oh my, oh…that's disgusting", she exclaimed, before realizing who she had stumbled by. "Hey Mulch, hey Bucket. Sorry about the uh…"

"Every day at three. The regular at least; a tip of the cap", Bucket responded.

"Better than the days when it was kill or be killed", Mulch added. "Hey, we've got some fish for that father of yours. Bucket, give the girl the cod."

Bucket held up his bag, but it had a hole ripped into the bottom. "I ate it already? Did I enjoy it?"

"Uh…no, uh actually Bucket, I'm afraid the uh…" she stumbled and pointed as she tried to explain the Terrors who took the cod.

 **"Mine!"**

* * *

 _Most of us here are willing to take the good with the bad, but there are those who will never accept the dragons and will do anything to drive them, and myself, away. This here is where this week's tale truly begins._

* * *

The following morning, Stoick was working on storing food for the freeze when 'devastating winter', as Hiccup would call it, came. Hiccup and Toothless were nearby talking in Dragonese to each other, when Mildew, a cranky old man, came up to complain about the dragons once again.

"Stoick."

"Ah, here's Mildew with the complaint of the day", Gobber stated.

"You've picked a bad time Mildew. I'm in the middle of storing food; the freeze is coming", Stoick said.

"It's the dragons again. Those demons are not fit to live amongst civilized men."

"Neither are you Mildew; why do you think we built your house so far outside of town?" Gobber replied.

All the dragons around laughed at that, and Hiccup couldn't help but smile a little as well. She especially didn't appreciate him calling the dragons demons. For one, it made her think of before she met Toothless, and those were times she'd rather forget. It was funny to think that it was only months ago. They felt like years to her; so much had changed.

"Oh, very well, make your jokes. Meanwhile these dragons upend our village carts! Turn people's houses into piles of rubble!"

"Aye, Mildew's right!"

As Mildew ranted, Vikings were becoming angry as well, soon forming a mob behind him. He soon began to talk more to the crowd rather than to Stoick, waving his staff with anger and fury.

"They even disturbed an old man's rest. Can't you see these bags under me eyes?"

"Go on, Mildew!"

"He's right, he's hideous", Gobber commented.

"These are wild and unpredictable beasts!" Mildew continued.

"Right you are!"

"They even cracked this man's skull", Mildew went on, tapping his staff on Bucket's bucket, "Like an egg. You need to put those dragons in cages. If you don't, they'll eat us out of house and home and destroy the entire village!" He then shouted towards Stoick.

The growing mob of angry Vikings shouted and cheered in agreement.

 **"We don't mean to destroy things?!"** Toothless growled.

 **"I know bud. I know. Calm down, it's alright"** , Hiccup crooned, trying to calm him down. She then moved in front of her father, facing the Vikings, and tried to calm her tribe down.

"They don't mean any harm. They're just dragons being dragons", she tried. It only made matters worse.

"Oh yes, why don't we listen to Hiccup?! The one who started this whole mess! The girl who is a dragon _herself_!" Mildew intervened, pointing his staff at her accusingly, causing her to flinch back. "Why should we trust this unholy offspring at all?!"

Stoick, having heard enough, pulled Hiccup behind him, taking matters into his own hands. "Look, Mildew, if there's a problem _I'll_ deal with it."

"Oh there is a _problem_ Stoick." He turned to walk away. "And I think I speak for everyone when I say you better do something about it."

The mob continued to shout with anger, some shouting about Hiccup as well. Stoick's stoic face broke a little, surprised to see his people so infuriated, as well as so distrustful of their heir.

That night he paced in his house, with Gobber wildling at the table and Hiccup and Toothless by the stairs, trying to come up with a way to fix the problem with the dragons.

"We can't just let dragons run wild like they own the place. Hey, we could put up signs!"

"Signs? For dragons?" Gobber questioned.

"No! For the people!"

"Signs? For Vikings? We're not big readers Stoick."

"Ugh. Then we'll build a huge net and stretch it around the plaza."

"Nets? You do know they breathe fire?"

"I know very well they breathe fire Gobber." Stoick growled in frustration. "Maybe Mildew was right", he exclaimed as he shoved a chair across the room. "We have to figure out something—"

"Nono, dad wait. What if _I_ deal with the dragons?" Hiccup interrupted.

" _You_?"

"Who else? If anyone can control them I can. I'm the best Viking for the job. Or… should I say…Hybrid", she said perking her ears.

He thought about it for a moment.

"And…it might fix the whole issue of the village wanting to throw me off the island right now?" she continued.

Stoick looked to Gobber, and it was a silent agreement.

"Very well. You'll have your chance…starting tomorrow."

* * *

The next day, Hiccup and Toothless stepped into the plaza ready to begin wrangling in some dragons.

 **"You sure you're up for this?"**

"Don't worry bud. It's just a few dragons? How hard could it be?"

"Get out! Shoo!" she heard a woman shout, and spotted a Nadder trying to take her basket. "For the last time get your nose out of my bread!"

She ran over to help immediately. "Hold on, I'll help you! Just…no", she ordered the Nadder and placed her hand on his snout. He instantly calmed, and then apologized.

"Alright. See bud, told you I could handle this. Everything's under control", she said turning her head to Toothless.

A crash was then heard with chickens scattering around startling the Nadder. Hiccup turned around to see a Gronckle 'playing' with the chickens and crashing into carts in the process. She lost the Nadder and Gronckle as they ran off.

"Okay… _less_ under control…"

She then saw another Deadly Nadder and a Monstrous Nightmare fighting near a sheep farm, setting the sheep on fire and causing them to scatter just as the chickens had. She began to panic, and ran to stop them.

"Toothless, stop that fight! I'll put out the sheep!"

 **"Got it!"**

She ran to another portion of town, only to be stopped by more chaos. An oncoming Gronckle, a cart being dragged by a Nadder, and then she was shoved by an angry Viking chasing after it. The dragons didn't think they were doing anything wrong, but the Vikings only became angrier chasing the dragons every which way. Now Hiccup was really beginning to panic, unsure where to start and what to do.

* * *

Meanwhile, her friends were watching from an abandoned catapult they liked to sometimes meet on.

"What's she doing?" Snotlout asked.

"Uh, I think she's helping the dragons break stuff", Tuffnut answered.

"Cool", Ruffnut then added.

They saw Hiccup running with a bucket of water to a flaming sheep, only for the sheep to hop over her, knocking her down.

"Wow. She could really use our help", Astrid commented.

"We'll get to it", Tuff started.

"In a minute", Ruff finished.

Hiccup finally reached the flaming sheep splashing the water onto it, but luck just couldn't be on her side. Dragons flew overhead, and everyone knew what it meant.

"And…its three o'clock", Aric stated.

* * *

 _What happened next is better left unsaid._

* * *

Hiccup was up in her room with Toothless, her body aching. "Oh everything hurts. Even this", she said holding her prosthetic.

"Hiccup?"

"Aric? Great. I don't look too beat up do I?"

 **"Well…"** he started.

"Oh great, dragon pity— uh, hey… Aric. What a nice surprise", she said awkwardly as he walked in.

"So, how was your day?"

"Oh, uneventful; hung around the plaza. You know…"

"Yeah, I _do_ know. We saw you out there; hard to believe you're still standing", he stated, at which Hiccup couldn't keep standing. She dramatically sighed tiredly and flopped back onto her bed, her wings spread out limply.

"I'm gonna be seeing flaming sheep in my dreams for the next month."

"HICCUP!" she heard her father yell.

Her eyes widened for a moment and she quickly stood back up.

"Hiccup, what's going on out there? The plaza looks like a war zone", her dad said as he came up the stairs and into her room.

"I know it looks bad—"

"Really bad", Aric whispered to her.

"But, this is only…uh, phase _one_ of my master plan", she continued.

"Oh, so you do have a plan."

"I do…of course I do…Its very complex, lots of drawings, several moving parts. Yeah. It's pretty wild", she terribly lied.

"Uh-huh. Well this better be real. Because, Mildew stirred up the whole island. And if you don't get those dragons under control, they'll be calling for their heads."

Toothless crooned with **'worry'** and Hiccup went to comfort him, petting his head. "Don't worry bud, your head's not going anywhere." She paused in thought for a little while, and then turned to her dad with worry in her owneyes.

"Uh, dad…? They're not…calling for _my_ head…are they?"

Stoick looked down at her a little shocked by the question at first, but he then he answered her. "No. What Mildew said yesterday was _too_ far. No one is going to lay a hand on you. Alright?" he told her firmly.

"Right", she said only slightly feeling better.

Her father then turned and left, and Toothless came to comfort her this time, knowing she was still a little worried.

"You _do_ realize there are like bazillion dragons out there and only _one_ of you. I hope you really do have a plan", Aric then said.

"Well, maybe not right now…but you know me? Ha, always coming up with ideas on the spot", she replied with a nervous smile. He didn't look very convinced. "Look, I'll figure something out. Trust me, I want this settled more than anything. My _own_ life is on the line!"

"Your dad would _never_ let anything happen."

"Maybe. But he can't protect me forever."

* * *

The following day, Hiccup had gathered everyone into the old killing arena where she unveiled her plan of all seven of them training the dragons.

"That's your plan? Train dragons?" Ruffnut asked disbelievingly.

"Here? Where we used to kill them?" Tuffnut added.

"Right, because we don't do that anymore. That's why it's available", Hiccup responded carrying a basket and then setting it down in front of the group.

"Actually the dragons _do_ seem a little nervous", Astrid said petting Stormfly to calm her.

"That's because they're very sensitive. Meatlug especially; she lost a cousin here", Fishlegs said. "We try not to talk about it", he then whispered.

Hiccup ignored the fact of how he knew that, trying to get on with her demonstration, but then Aric spoke up in his usual skeptic manner.

"It's amazing your dad just gave us the arena."

"Well it would be, if he did, yeah, but he didn't. So, that's another thing we should try not to _talk_ about."

"Wait. So we're going behind your father's back?" he said crossing his arms.

"There you go, talking about it! Uh…Alright, everybody, here's the thing." She sighed. "The dragons are out of control."

 **"Not all of us."**

Hiccup did her best to ignore the dragons as she continued. "We want them to live in our world without destroying it, but they _can't_ without our help. They've been blowing stuff up in the village; we've got to do something about that—"

"Got it! Help dragons blow things up. We can totally do that" Tuffnut interrupted.

"No, I believe I said—" she tried, but Ruffnut interrupted. "Here's how we do it. First, we make them really really angry."

"No problem. We anger everybody."

Hiccup was speechless; first she was dumbfounded at the twins, but then she became upset and angry. She couldn't understand how they couldn't take this seriously. _'Don't they know what's at stake?!'_

"You guys this is serious!" she shouted out. "Mildew wants all of the dragons…gone. He wants for all of our dragons…in-including me, banished or dead. He may say he just wants them in cages, but we all know that's not true. If we don't do something fast my father might have no choice but to banish all the dragons off the island. And I don't know about you, but that is _not_ okay with me."

"You're right. She's sorry", Tuffnut responded, pointing to Ruffnut who glared at him for pinning the blame on her.

Hiccup took a breath to recompose herself, and then continued. "Now, next problem. The dragons are eating everything in sight." She took out a loaf of bread from the basket she had carried in and began to move to Toothless, who clearly wanted it.

"Now when a dragon grabs something they're not supposed to have…" Toothless grabbed the bread holding it in his mouth. "…you can get them to drop it by giving a little scratch just below the chin." As she said this, she demonstrated the action by scratching Toothless under his chin. It caused him to open up his mouth, distracted by the wonderful sensation. She took the bread from him and held it up for everyone to see.

"Ehneneneneuh! Maybe that works for you and Toothless, but Hookfang and me? We do things a little different", her cousin said, swiping the bread from her hand.

He threw the bread to Hookfang, catching it in his mouth, and Snotlout walked confidently over to him. "When I want this big boy to do something I just get right in his face and—"

"DROP THAT RIGHT NOW!" the boy shouted at the top of his lungs. "YOU HERE ME!"

Hookfang didn't seem to appreciate the act, and dropped the bread in favor for him.

"See, he dropped it", Snotlout said dangling in Hookfang's mouth.

"Heh-heh, should we help him?" Tuff asked.

"Yeah", Astrid answered. "In a minute."

"Alright, we've got a lot of training to do, but together, we can keep these dragons under control", Hiccup then stated taking out some more bread for everyone else to try.

"Uh…can somebody do that chin-scratchy thing?" Snotlout asked from his dragon's mouth. No answer came. "Hello? You guys still there?"

Once they got Hookfang to drop his rider, and once they deemed themselves ready, the teens went into town to start training the dragons. But, when they got there, they found that there were no dragons to train.

"Huh. No dragons", Fishlegs stated.

"That's weird. If the dragons aren't here where are they?" Hiccup asked.

An explosion and woman's scream sounded in the near distance.

"Something tells me that way", Astrid said.

They all ran to where they saw the explosion come from, and they could only guess what had been destroyed. They were heading to where the store house was and Hiccup hoped that wasn't what had suffered the explosion. She could only imagine her father's fury if that was what happened. After a few minutes, the store house was in view, and as feared, it was completely destroyed. The building was burned and collapsed, and the food was gone. The worst part was that they saw their own dragons were a part of it.

"Stormfly?" Astrid asked shocked. Stormfly looked up at her from eating out of one of the bins that were scattered around from the explosion.

"Hookfang?!" Snotlout exclaimed in the same way, and Hookfang did the same as Stormfly, turning to look at his rider.

Hiccup ran up to see her father in what was left of the storehouse. He was holding a large pillar and when she caught sight, she saw him throw it away in utter frustration. It made her ears go down with fear and worry.

"They've eaten everything! We've got nothing left for the freeze!" He exclaimed as he came towards her.

"I warned ya Stoick", Mildew said coming up. "But did you listen to me? No. You put a bunch of teenagers and a _dragon_ in charge. Now look at what these dragons have done? Caging is too good for those beasts", he sneered.

"Dad, I swear I can fix this. We-we were just starting to—"

"Enough Hiccup! How can I trust you to control _all_ the dragons when you couldn't even control your own?" He gestured his hand to Toothless, and she saw her dragon's head come out of a basket with a fish. He stared at them clueless that what he had done was wrong.

 **"What? Do you want some?"**

Hiccup shook her head with disappointment. "Oh, Toothless…"

Her father went back inside instructing Mulch and Bucket to catch more fish to try and make up what they lost, and Hiccup wouldn't give up. If she gave up, Mildew won, and she would never allow that old man to win. If the dragons went, it would only be a matter of time before she did as well. Her father came out once more with empty baskets slung over his shoulders.

"Dad, please! You gotta listen to me; I know dragons better than anyone! Just give us a few more days, I know we can fix this! If I could just ta—"

"I've heard enough, Hiccup! I have a village to feed; the dragons have done enough. By tonight, I want every one of them caged. Understand?"

"Bah! You can't just cage these dragons!" Mildew exclaimed pushing passed where Hiccup stood. He glared down at her, and she glared right back. He then stepped forward and refocused his eyes on Stoick. "You need to send them away _now_!"

"Stoick, Mildew's right!"

"Get 'em out of here!"

"You're right, Mildew", Stoick said, the crowds' shouts ceasing. "She'll cage them tonight, and in the morning, Hiccup will send them off the island."

"But dad—"

"Hiccup…"

Hiccup looked up at him practically begging him not to do it, but it was already decided.

"I'm sorry hun."

* * *

Hiccup and her friends were all having dinner in the Great Hall that night, and they were all upset that they were losing the dragons they had come to love so much. Astrid recounted of how she'd miss Stormfly's face being the first face she woke up to. Fishlegs talked about how Meatlug would lick his feet every night as he went to sleep, which in his depressed state, Tuffnut agreed to stand in for. And Aric was actually showing brotherly affection to Astrid as well as her to him, something they rarely ever really did.

But while everyone was depressed, Hiccup just viewed this as a set back. She'd lost the battle. She thought she could fix everything, but she failed and lost. She was now losing her 'brother', and who knows how long before she was sent away too. Sure, she was broken down, but unlike all her friends, despite her failure, something inside her made her refuse to give up. She might have lost this battle, but she would not lose the next. She had to fight back; she couldn't just lie down and except this.

"Come on guys, lets gets this over with", Aric said dreadfully as they finished their untouched meals.

"This is the worst day of my life. We're never gonna see our dragons again", Fishlegs cried as he followed the group out to cage up their dragons who were to be sent off the island the very next day.

But Hiccup wouldn't give in. "We can't let that happen", she exclaimed. She bent down to pet Toothless who lay by the fire pit. "Toothless is the best friend I've ever had."

"Oh, Toothless, I'm gonna miss you so much", Mildew chimed insincerely as he unfortunately made his way into the Hall. Both Toothless and Hiccup shared the same expression of hatred and anger. She got up from her kneeled position to face the retched man.

"You know what your mistake was", he continued in the same tone, "Thinking dragons could be _trained_. A dragon's gonna do what a dragon's gonna do. It's your _nature_. And nature. Always. Wins."

As the man walked away from them Toothless growled nothing but **'hatred'** , and Hiccup felt compelled to do the same, until the doors were opened and the cold winter winds blew out the fire in the pit. Toothless immediately turned around and lit it again; it made Hiccup's face change from one of anger to realization.

"You know what?! Mildew's absolutely right!"

 **"Right about what?"**

"I'll tell you on the way! Come on, we've got to get to the arena!"

* * *

As Hiccup ran to stop them, the teens were already locking their dragons up. After they landed they said their goodbyes.

"Goodbye Hookfang."

"I'll…miss you Stormfly."

"I'm sorry, Shadowstar. Now go."

The five dragons did as they were told, and walked into the arena.

"Ugh. Feels like big, sharp teeth are tearing at this _thing_ in my chest", Snotlout said as they stood in front of the gate.

"That's what it feels like when your heart is breaking", Astrid said in answer.

"I don't have a heart! I'm not a girl!" He retorted.

The gate was beginning to close. They all stood in silence as their dragons looked to them from inside, both groups wishing for the gate not to close.

"Don't close it!" They suddenly heard Hiccup shout from the sky.

She hopped off of Toothless as he landed, and ran to the lever to stop the gate from closing. She pushed it back, and then stood in front of the group.

"We are not locking them up."

"What happened? Did you change your father's mind? Or are we going behind his back again...?" Aric firmly said to her.

"Uh... one of those. Look. The dragons are gonna do what they're gonna do. It's their nature. We just need to learn how to use it!"

* * *

"Ah, the nets are empty again", Mulch said as he and Bucket pulled the nets out of the water hoping for at least a few fish.

"Did I eat them already? Did I enjoy it? Oop—am I being too negative?" Bucket asked, being in his own world. "Dragon Attack!" he suddenly screamed as a Monstrous Nightmare plunged into the water scaring the fish into the nets, making them full.

"WOOHOO!" They heard a boy shout as the dragon flew out of the water.

"Hey, thanks dragon", Mulch called out.

"THAT'S RIGHT! THAT JUST HAPPENED!"

* * *

"Come on, follow me!" Hiccup called.

She, Astrid, and Fishlegs were all heading to Mildew's field with a group of dragons following not too far behind. He was planting his cabbage as they arrived.

"Afternoon Mildew!" Astrid called. Stormfly pointed her spikes out, flew low on the ground, and plowed his field for him in three seconds flat. Hiccup and Toothless flew over the field next, dumping seeds onto the dirt.

"Three o'clock! Time for the fertilizer!" Hiccup said.

"Fertilizer—?"

As Mildew turned he saw Fishlegs and Meatlug in front of a group of dragons coming towards his field, and then letting their loads loose over it.

"Smile Mildew, we just saved you three months of work", Hiccup called down.

* * *

Their next job was to help herd in some wild boars from the forest into the slaughterhouse. Shadowstar and Toothless shot their plasma blasts near the boars to keep them in line as Barf and Belch chased them forward with their fire. The boars ran in with no trouble and Gobber closed the doors as the teens landed.

"That was awesome!" Fishlegs exclaimed.

"How did you know that was gonna work?!" Aric asked.

"Because their dragons", Hiccup answered. "And their gonna do what dragons do. We just need to work with them and not against them. You know who we should actually be thanking—"

"There they are Stoick", an old man's voice said.

Hiccup's smile quickly turned into bitter frown.

"Those dragons don't look like they're in cages to me."

"No. This is not what I asked for", her father stated.

They were all taken to the arena and some people had gathered to witness their punishment for disobeying their chief. Stoick came in with Gobber walking firm but slowly towards the lined up teens.

"Oh no, what's Stoick gonna do to us?" Fishlegs asked worried.

"I'm too pretty for jail", Ruffnut said.

"Huh, where'd you hear that?" her brother asked rhetorically.

"You all disobeyed my orders, and there will be consequences", Stoick began.

"I told you we were gonna get in trouble. Ugh, you never listen to me", Aric whispered to Hiccup, causing her to step forward and take blame.

"Dad, if anyone is going to get in trouble it should be me."

"No, you _all_ had a hand in this."

"Oh, this is gonna be _great_ Fungus. It's about to get ugly", Hiccup could hear Mildew mutter to his sheep.

"You took this place without asking. You released the dragons against _my_ wishes. Things are going to change around here. That's why I—"

"You're getting a dragon training academy!" Gobber interrupted.

"Gobber! I wanted to tell them!" Stoick exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, you're right. Go ahead."

"Well you told most of it!"

"Well you can tell her the part of how proud you are of her!"

"GOBBER!" He frustratingly sighed and then turned back to Hiccup and her friends. "Hiccup—well, what he said. You've _all_ made me proud." He walked over to the lever that opened the cages, and as he opened them said, "This dragon training academy is for you."

The teen's dragons were let out, and they all ran to their dragons with complete joy, each giving their dragon a hug.

"Hookfang, My buddy!"

"Hey, Stormfly! I missed you so much!

"Meatlug! Oh, who daddy little girl? Oh, who's daddy's little…"

"Shadowstar! How's my strong girl?!"

"Hey, bud!"

Stoick stood behind his daughter proud as she hugged and pet her dragon.

"Now all you have to do is train them."

"Not a problem dad. After all, I've got him", Hiccup replied petting Toothless.

 **"** "Ah-hem?" **"**

"And…them too", she amended including her friends.

In the stands she could here Mildew muttering to himself of how he'd one day get the dragons. Of how he'd one day win their hidden war. This was clearly far from over, but she'd won their first battle and that's all that mattered right now.

* * *

 _Dragons have instincts, instincts they can't change, and a culture and way of life all their own. They can't change who they are, but who would want them too? Dragons are powerful, amazing creatures, with secrets and mysteries Toothless and I need to explore._

* * *

The sign of the new Dragon Academy was being put up by Meatlug and Hookfang, Aric and Hiccup supervising, as well as coming up with an official name.

"Huh, Berk Dragon Academy. I like the sound of that", he said punching her arm.

* * *

 _And no matter how long it takes us, we are going to learn everything there is to know. Wouldn't you?_


	2. Viking For Hire

**Mariah: Yes. At the end of Gift of a Night Fury I stated I would be doing Race to the Edge following a similar formula to this one (I list the formula/rules there as well). The only thing I don't know is whether to do Race to the Edge after or before I do the 2nd movie.**

 **I hope that answered your question. Now on with the show!**

* * *

 _ **Viking for Hire**_

 _Everybody needs a place in the world. Some people are born to theirs, others discover theirs, and some people make a place for themselves. But, then the world around them changes, and the place they made is gone. Gobber had been the one to make and repair all our weapons, but with no war to fight, the need for those new or repaired weapons had vanished. Gobber needed a new place in the world, and finding it proved to be more difficult than I thought…_

* * *

The teens had all gathered in the new Berk Dragon Training Academy, and Hiccup was quizzing her friends on dragons. They made it into a competition with teams. Astrid, Fishlegs, and Aric on one, while Snotlout and the twins made up the other.

"Every dragon has its own unique abilities that give it its special place in the world. Which dragon makes the best welding torch?" Hiccup asked.

"Oh! Deadly Nadder!" Astrid answered.

"Correct! Point to team Astrid. Score is now 100 to 10."

"And you started with 10", Aric laughed.

"Oh yeah? Well, the game's not over. Wait, what team am I on?" Tuffnut questioned.

In retrospect, the teams were a bit unfairly chosen. "Next question", Hiccup continued, "What is the shot limit of the Hideous Zippleback? Team Snotlout."

"I don't think they can count that high", Astrid snickered.

"Oh really?" Ruffnut challenged, "Let's find out. Barf! Belch!"

The Zippleback fired until their shot limit at the other team who were just able to duck away in time.

"Looks like it's about three." Tuffnut said, holding up two fingers.

"Told you we could count that high."

"It's six; you're half right. Five points", Hiccup corrected.

"Yes! We're up to 30!" Ruffnut cheered, high-fiving her team mates.

"Alright, it's our turn. What happens when you shoot fire at the owner of a Midnight Nadder?" Aric whistled, and Shadowstar shot her spikes at Team Snotlout, pinning them to the wall. He and his sister high-fived at that, laughing.

"No fair! He didn't give us time to answer", Tuffnut complained.

"I've got a question", Snotlout said in a competitive yet angry tone, "What happens when I sick Hookfang on you?!"

"Okay guys! _That's_ enough training!" Hiccup said seeing the competition starting to spiral out of control. "So… _we_ did some really good work here today."

Snotlout was still raring to fight, though. He set Hookfang to attack, but instead of attacking Aric, he ignited himself on fire and roared with pain. "AH! THAT'S THE THIRD TIME THIS WEEK!" Snotlout jumped into a nearby water tub, to put out his flaming butt. "Aahhh... sweet relief."

"Hookfang never flames up when you're riding him? Is he okay?" Hiccup asked recounting the way Hookfang roared.

"Maybe he just realized who his owner is", Astrid joked.

"There's room in here for two?"

Astrid's response was a harsh shove into the cold water.

000

As Hiccup walked through the village she found Gobber attempting to sell his weapons as different ordinary houseware. She stopped, seeing him trying to convince people they could use a sword as a butter knife. Hiccup already felt bad enough at the sight of her former mentor being reduced so low, but Mildew just had to come pour salt in the wound. She glared at him from the side and fought the urge to growl threateningly.

" _Gasp,_ well isn't this a dark day. A great dragon slayer peddling his weapons as kitchen utensils? Hm…tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk", the old man said with mocked concern. Hiccup knew she wouldn't actually hurt the man, but she _did_ really want to.

Gobber continued with the embarrassing display; he tried using a mace as a fly swatter, ultimately destroying a table, followed by trying to sell his catapult as a weapon for a woman's home defense. He accidently set it off, creating a giant hole in the wall of Silent Sven's house. By this point the people gathered had seen enough and decided to leave, leaving Gobber rather desperate.

"Ah, it's hard to watch. Especially for you, eh, Hiccup? The feelings of guilt must be _tearing_ at your insides. I mean you put him out of business with your little peace pact with the dragons. _You_ ruined his life. Bravo", Mildew continued. He left knowing his words made an impact.

As much as she hated to admit it, Mildew was right; it _was_ her fault Gobber was in this position. She left with guilt weighing heavy on her.

Later that night, Hiccup sat on the loft, thinking, with Toothless curled around her. She sighed. "You know Gobber made this for me?" she said pointing to her metal leg. "He taught me everything I needed to know to make your tail", she continued. "I've got to find some way to help him."

 **"Maybe you could find him a** _ **new**_ **job"** ,Toothless suggested.

 **"But what?"** she asked shifting to Dragonese.

They both sat for a moment in thought when Hiccup's father came in. Hiccup got up and made her way down seeing her father exhausted. He groaned as he sat in his chair.

"Tough day of cheifing dad?" she asked as she walked down the stairs.

"I was all over the island. I married the Svensson girl to the Odegaard boy at dawn. Then down to the fields where some kids were tipping over yaks. Then back up to the newlyweds to settle a domestic dispute. I guess that honeymoon's over", he finished as Hiccup handed him a cup of ale. She nodded in agreement, and then went over to the fireplace to put some more wood in.

Her father sighed. "Sometimes I wish there were two of me", he then said.

Hiccup's eyes grew wide and her ears perked up. She dropped the wood into the fire in her stunned state with the answer to both their problems in her head. "Dad, th-there are two of you!" she exclaimed turning around and moving towards him.

"Is that another crack about my weight?!"

"No, I mean Gobber. _He_ can be the other you."

"Gobber? Why he's way too busy making all those dragon killing—well he used to be, until you—which is great! Except for Gobber."

"Exactly my point."

"You know? That's actually not such a bad idea. I could use a right hand."

"Which works out great, 'cause that's kinda the only one he has", Hiccup replied jokingly.

000

"I greatly appreciate you helping me out Gobber", Stoick said the following morning as he and Gobber walked through the village.

"I'm just glad I could find time in my busy schedule, Stoick", Gobber clearly lied.

"I've got a full day ahead of me; here's your half." He ripped a piece of paper with his list and gave half of it to Gobber to follow.

"Oh, this will be interesting", Gobber stated as he looked the list over.

"Now remember, some of these situations are delicate; they require diplomacy."

"Ah, no problem. I'm great at…that."

"Really? You? You can speak to people with tact and sensitivity?"

"Oh, I thought it meant clubbing people on the head and asking questions later. But I can give your thing a shot."

Stoick had a feeling this was a bad idea, and his feeling was right. As Stoick was finishing his last item on his list, a group of Vikings consisting of the new parents whose baby's naming ceremony was that day, and Bucket and Mulch came angrily towards him. The parents told him how Gobber named their daughter Magnus, as well as giving their baby a mace as a teething toy, and Bucket and Mulch told him how Gobber's solution to their problem was for them to fight each other to the death, only resulting in nothing being settled. Stoick, furious, marched down to the docks assuming that's where'd he be. His guess was correct seeing Gobber patching Silent Sven's boat with metal.

"Gobber!" the chief exclaimed with the group following him. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Just checking another item off the list", he responded. Gobber then tapped the boat with his hammer-hand, causing it to slide down into the water and sink. "And, adding an item for later. Recover sunken ship. Same time tomorrow?" The response was a massive face palm from the chief, and the baby crying.

When Stoick came home that night he had a splitting headache only two blocks of ice could cure.

"Here you go dad", Hiccup said placing his cup on the table. She then noticed the ice. "Wow, a _two_ -block headache. You know dad, I think you're being a wee bit…rough on Gobber. It was his first day? Tomorrow will be way better."

"Oh it will be for me. Because it _won't_ involve Gobber."

"What do you mean?"

"I tried to fit a square peg in a round hole, and it sunk a ship and named a baby girl Magnus. Now I'm not saying she didn't look like a Magnus, but try telling that to her parents."

"I can't believe you let him go?! _Sigh_ Well we've got to help him!"

" _We_ don't have to do anything. _You_ ,on the other hand are going to be very busy finding a job for Gobber."

She gave him a look of 'wait, what?'

"That's right. _You_ want to fix a problem, so _you're_ going to be the one to fix it."

She sighed frustratingly. "Fine! I will. But _I_ won't give up", she then declared.

000

Hiccup sat on her bed thinking as Toothless was curled on his rock slab. "A job for Gobber…"

' _What job can I give Gobber? He's an excellent black smith…but we don't need anything made. What else is he really good at?'_

 **"Hiccup can you please just go to sleep?"** Toothless asked.

"No bud. Not until I can think of something to help Gobber."

 **"Ugh, fine. Then can you at least stop tapping your tail?"**

"Oh, sorry bud." She didn't even realize she was doing it.

Toothless put his head back down and went back to sleep, and Hiccup went back to thinking. _'Think, Hiccup, think. What do you know about Gobber? What can he do? What does he know?'_ Finally, it hit her.

"Dragons!"

Toothless looked up grumpily and grunted at her for waking him.

 **"Sorry"** , she said sheepishly.

000

"You're bringing Gobber? Here?" Fishlegs asked confused after Hiccup had explained how he would help them train the dragons.

"He's gonna be… great. Nobody knows dragons like old Gobber. He has spent a life time…studying them. If we can tap into that we'll all be better dragon trainers", she responded.

"I'm back!" Gobber exclaimed, as he came bursting through the gate behind her with a cart filled to the brim with weapons. "Did you miss me?!"

The dragons reared back in surprise and fear. It was uncomfortable enough that they had to come to the place where the teens they had come to cherish tried to kill them every day—except for Hiccup—, but now their old teacher was there as well? With the sharp weapons they used to use on them? It was all a little much for them.

"First of all, welcome. And second…tiny question…Why did you bring your, you know…?"

"Killing things? I thought we could train them by threatening to kill them." He said taking out a large sword that looked to be mixed with an ax, causing Hiccup to gasp. "That's how my daddy taught me to swim."

The dragons' fear was only getting worse, but the moment that made them flee was when Gobber took out a giant mace and shouted, "School's in session!"

The dragons panicked, and quickly flew away as if their lives depended on it. Which to them, it did.

"Eh, I didn't like school either" he then said watching the dragons fly away. Hiccup glanced at him with a look of 'really?'

Hours later, Hiccup was still sitting in the arena with Toothless. She was now writing in her journal with Toothless lying next to her watching, entranced by the way she made lines on the paper.

Astrid and the twins finally came back to the arena, having found their dragons, and they all hopped off them groaning and sore.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Hiccup asked as she and Toothless got up.

"Ugh…we've been riding our dragons for four hours. It took _forever_ to chase them down after _Gobber_ chased them away", Astrid responded.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I just don't know what to do with him?" She turned to the sound of Tuffnut grunting, seeing Ruffnut kicking her brother's butt…literally. "Do you guys always have to fight?"

"It's a sibling thing", Astrid reassured.

"Nono. I asked her to do that. I was just trying to get the feeling back", Tuffnut stated still clearly in pain.

"You gonna return the favor or what?" his sister demanded.

"Huh", Hiccup said bewildered, "I've flown on Toothless for _hours_ , and I've never had a problem."

"That's because _you_ have a saddle", Astrid irritably pointed out.

Having yet another epiphany, Hiccup was now absolutely sure she had the right job for Gobber. "Saddles!"

000

"Saddles? I love it! I've got so many ideas!" Gobber said happy to start after Hiccup had found him in the forge and told him she wanted him to make saddles for the teens and their dragons. He took Hiccup's blueprints and glanced over them frowning. "But not like these. Good ones", he continued throwing her designs on the floor.

"I'm glad you're exited, but I still think there are some things in my designs that you can use. I mean, you did teach me everything I know?" She responded picking the papers up from the floor.

"Exactly! That's why you should let Gobber do what Gobber does best."

"I know you know what you're doing, but keep in mind every dragon's different. You have to—"

"Hiccup."

"But—"

"Hiccup."

"But I just think—"

"Hicc. Up. I may have taught you everything _you_ know", he said poking her shoulder with his hammer, "but I haven't taught you everything _I_ know."

She left letting Gobber do his thing, hoping he would finally pull through.

Later, that night, she decided to see how Gobber was doing. When she and Toothless had the forge in their sights they heard him singing.

" _I've got my ax, and I've got my mace. And I love my wife with the ugly face. I'm a Viking through! Hmmm…"_

"You know he doesn't sing that song unless he's actually very happy. I think we did a good thing."

 **"You mean** _ **you**_ **did a good thing."**

Hiccup looked to him a little annoyed. "It was a team effort. You _did_ give me the idea with your saddle?"

 **"I thought Astrid was the one to give you the idea?"** He replied matter of factly.

"Why do dragons have to be so literal?"

 **"Why do humans have to be so complicated?"**

"Half human."

 **"Act more human?"**

"Ah—Come on. Let's head home, oh Great simple dragon."

They turned and began to walk back, the two continuing to banter on all the way home.

 **"I'm hearing sarcasm."**

"That's because it was."

000

After a few days, the saddles were finally finished, and Gobber had brought them to the arena to unveil his wondrous creations. He got there early to make the reveal a surprise covering the saddles with a tarp after laying them all out. When the teens arrived, it was time.

"Alright, this is an exciting day for all of us", Hiccup started. "Gobber, has been working hard to—"

"I think they might want to hear from the artist himself", Gobber intervened. "I've made a lot of saddles in my day; horse, donkey, and now dragon. But, these saddles are special; they're like my children. That is, if you strapped your child to a flaming reptile and rode it. So without further ado…!"

Gobber unveiled his work, and the reactions were immediate. Everyone was impressed, but while Hiccup was surprised, she was more worried than anything else.

"Wow, Gobber, th-this is _not_ what I… imagined", she said.

"How could it be? I'm Gobber! No one knows what it's like to live in here", Gobber replied followed by a tap on his helmet with his hammer.

Hiccup took a closer look at the saddles noticing something odd. "I-is that…?"

"Yep. Flame thrower", he said, followed by a demonstration causing Aric and Hiccup to rear back from the heat. "Didn't see that one coming did ya?"

"Uh, no. No, not for dragons? They come with one built in, actually."

"I know, but can ya ever really have too much fire power?"

They were taken from their conversation when they heard the twins testing out their dragon's new saddles with catapults attached. Once on, they tested out the catapults firing too low and hitting Barf and Belch in the back of each head. They flopped down with a thud and a delayed 'ow' from Ruffnut.

"Uh, catapults for the twins? Not such a good idea", Hiccup stated.

Fishlegs then tried out his dragon's saddle having large maces attached, and she could barely get off the ground.

"Come on girl, think light thoughts."

It didn't work and she tiredly fell back onto the ground.

"Oh come on, you can't tell me my saddle is heavier than Fishlegs?!" Gobber complained.

"My mom says I'm just husky."

Snotlout couldn't even get Hookfang's saddle on to try. His dragon only refused, extremely irritable. "Come on Hookfang. What's wrong with you?" he asked.

Hiccup tried asking him what the matter was a few days ago as well, but the Nightmare's pride was just as large as her cousin's. He wouldn't tell; either that or maybe he just didn't know?

Hookfang continued to ignore the issue saying, **"Nothing, I'm fine!"** despite clearly not being fine, and turning away from his rider and remaining in his grumpy mood.

"That's it, someone's trading with me."

"Yeah sure, I'll trade my perfect dragon for an angry oven", Tuffnut sarcastically said.

Astrid and Aric were the last ones who hadn't tried their saddles, and it was decided they'd try theirs together, seeing how they were similar. They each strapped the saddles onto Stormfly and Shadowstar and flew a little to get a feel for them.

"Hey, this saddle's actually pretty nice", Astrid commented.

"Yeah, not too heavy, pretty comfortable, quite maneuverable", Aric added.

"Wait 'till to you try the horn!" Gobber called.

"On three?" Astrid asked. Aric nodded and they counted down."

" "One…two…three!" " They each blew their horns. The sound was so sudden, and so loud, it scared their dragons causing them to each shoot their spikes, Stormfly's pinning Snotlout to the wall.

"Really? Again?" Snotlout complained.

"Actually not too bad", Aric joked.

"So anyway, I-I really think we're really gonna need to make a few—"

"Changes!" Gobber interrupted Hiccup yet again. "I'm way ahead of you. I've got so many ideas! It's getting crowded up here…"

She simply looked away with a tired and worried look.

000

Later that evening, Hiccup was cleaning the arena as Toothless simply slept, waiting for when she would be done so they could go for their evening flight. Her father walked in shocked to see all the burn marks.

"By Odin! This place looked better when we were killing dragons here!"

"Yeah, we sort of got 'Gobbered'." She said, then returning to sweeping.

"Well, you know Gobber, he means well. He just doesn't always _do_ well. So, what are you going to do about him?"

"I'm gonna clean up his messes, and re-do his work."

"Look, Gobber's like family—"

"Yeah, I know he is! That's why I can't say anything to him!" she exclaimed, dropping the broom and turning to face her father.

"No, dear, that's why you have to." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's not fair to you, and it's not fair to Gobber."

"Why do I have to say something to him?!" she said distressed. "You didn't! You just passed him off to me!" she said shrugging his hand off, and backing away.

"That's what the chief does; he delegates." Hiccup only gave him a side glance. It wasn't fair. Why should _she_ have to fire Gobber, a person who she valued as a second father, when all her father did was hand him over to her to deal with?

"Look, I gave you this academy because it's the best thing for Berk. Now you have to do what's best for the academy." He then said hooking his arm around her and leading her out. "And I'm sorry dear, but what's best is very rarely what's easy."

"What about him?" he then asked, seeing his nephew hanging by a Nadder's spikes, sleeping.

"Leave him. He's going for a record."

"Enough said", he replied, and they walked home together.

000

That night, Hiccup stood by the forge again with Toothless, hoping she wasn't going to have to do what she knew she needed to, thinking of her father's words.

"Hey, you never know bud? Maybe Gobber finally looked at my plans, and is actually making the saddles better?"

There was then a tiny explosion from the forge, the smoke blowing out the torch she was holding.

 **"Or not"** , Toothless commented.

Sighing, Hiccup went to enter the forge. "Gobber?" she asked as she made her way in. He turned to her with a cross bow causing her to panic. "Don't shoot!" she screamed with her hands up in front of her.

"I would never shoot you, Hiccup. Unless I absolutely had to", he replied, still holding the crossbow up.

She chuckled nervously. "Yeah…still, if you could _please_ put the crossbow down, I know _I'd_ feel better."

"You know, about the weapons", he said putting the bow down and turning away to his table. "Maybe the catapults were a bit much for the dragons yesterday. So I've gone a different way. I've gotten rid of the two big ones."

"Gobber, that's great!" she said, her ears perking with happiness.

"And replaced them with six little ones!"

Her ears immediately went back down. "Yeah…um, Gobber, we need to talk. Uh, I think it might be time for you to…take a little break."

"In case you hadn't noticed, the only time a Viking takes a break is to die."

"Maybe, uh 'break' is the wrong word. What I mean is…I'm not sure thing are working out."

"Well, get back to me when you're sure."

"Okay, I'm sure. Gobber, I'm gonna have to take you _off_ the saddle project", she finally said, although cautiously.

Gobber's mood completely shifted. He stopped working, and slumped down. "Are you getting rid of me Hiccup? Now I see why you had me put down the crossbow."

"No, it's just the saddles! We'll find something else for ya."

"I don't need your pity. I've lost an arm and a leg. I think I'll _survive_ losing a job."

"I'm…really sorry Gobber…" She then left, and met up with Toothless feeling horrible. "Oh that was awful. I don't know what could be worse than that?"

They stopped, hearing screaming. **"Well looks like you're about to find out."**

Snotlout ran towards her out of breath. "I never…thought…I'd say this…but Hiccup..." He grabbed her shoulders and shook her vigorously. "HELP!"

"Snotlout! Calm down." Her cousin let her go, stopped shaking her brains out, and they began to run to where Hookfang was rampaging. "What happened? What's wrong with Hookfang?" Hiccup continued as they ran.

"I don't know what happened? I was just rubbing his head. He usually loves that, but this time he went crazy. My dragon hates me", he finished with a distressed tone.

Hiccup could hear Hookfang was roaring for help and that he was hurt. He was clearly in pain and panic, but from what, Hiccup couldn't tell. He wasn't specific on what pain he was in.

 **"Hookfang, talk to me, what hurts? What's wrong?"** she tried, approaching slowly.

He only roared more **'pain'** , **'hurt'** , and **'distress'** , not listening. The only solution was to guess. She looked at him carefully and saw that he kept rubbing his mouth on the ground as if trying to sooth it. Hiccup had an idea it had something to do with his mouth, but with Hookfang not answering her she had to figure out some other way to make sure.

"When was the last time he ate?" she asked Snotlout.

"Not for days."

She grabbed a fish and held it out to him. He looked interested, and she threw it to him. He caught it, and everything seemed fine as he chewed but then he stopped and his cry of pain emanated once more. He spit the fish out, Hiccup ducking away, and unfortunately catching in her father's beard.

"Oh…sorry dad."

"We've got to get this dragon under control!" her father yelled, growing impatient, throwing the fish half to Toothless.

"Don't worry, I can do this!"

She knew it had something to do with his mouth now. What was wrong with his mouth, though, was another question. She came closer to Hookfang, trying to sooth him, in an attempt to get him to tell her what was wrong, and where exactly he was hurting so she could see, figure out the problem, and hopefully fix it. She placed one hand on his snout.

"There you go. It's gonna be okay", she said softly. He seemed to be fine, until she pat the left side of his jaw. Apparently that must have been what was hurting, because he then went ballistic shooting fire everywhere and lighting himself on fire as well.

"Hiccup run!" Aric screamed as Toothless raced to confront the dragon that was threatening his 'sister'.

"Way ahead of you!" She called back already running back to safety.

Toothless tackled Hookfang, biting his neck and knocking him down when Hookfang flamed up even more. He then threw Toothless off of him, Toothless landing on his feet and beginning to circle around. The two growled and roared at each other furiously.

 **"What do you think you're doing?!"** Toothless roared.

 **"Don't even start! You don't know anything!"**

 **"That's 'cause you won't tell us anything!"**

 **"My problems are mine!"**

 **"Then why are you screeching for help?!"**

 **"Shut up!"** He shot at Toothless.

"Toothless!" Hiccup yelled in fear. The shot luckily missed, but hit a building. Stop!" she then screamed running to Toothless wanting to stop the fight that was sure to start. They roared at each other with hate once more and Hiccup pushed Toothless' mussel down trying to stop him. Her father came up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I've seen enough, Hiccup. I'm sorry, we tried it your way", he then said as she looked at Hookfang with distress, confusion, and worry.

000

Gobber was in the forge saddened by Hiccup's rejection, actually sobbing, when Stoick stormed in.

"Gobber! We need you!"

"No you don't. Nobody needs me. Nobody needs any of us. Not even you, Bertha", he said, talking to his favorite catapult nobody wanted.

"Are you… crying?"

"Course not", Gobber denied. "Just…chopping onions."

"There _are_ no onions."

"Not anymore. Look what I used to chop them with", he replied holding up his arm which had a mace attached to it as his hand.

"There's a dragon in the plaza that's out of control", Stoick said, getting back on topic.

"Then why don't you call Hiccup?"

"No, Gobber, we need you."

With those words, Gobber's resolve returned and determination lit his eyes. He gathered his weapons and headed with Stoick to the plaza to deal with the dragon.

When they arrived, the teens turned back to them with a look of horror on their faces. He knew this wasn't going to be easy for any of them.

"Stand back. I came to do what I do best", he stated.

"He's gonna kill my dragon", Snotlout worried.

"No, he's not", Hiccup reassured.

"Uh, yeah he is", Tuffnut said.

"You don't use that stuff to butter toast" Ruffnut added.

"Well, I mean we would. But you don't."

"Dad!" Hiccup called and raced to him. "You can't be serious, Hookfang is Snotlout's dragon!"

"I'm sorry, Hiccup, but sometimes you have to fall back on the old ways", Gobber said grimly.

"But he's a _good_ dragon", she stressed.

"He's a good dragon", Snotlout repeated on the verge of tears.

"There's just something _wrong_ with him", Hiccup continued.

"There's defiantly something wrong with him", he yet again repeated.

"He's just hurt; we have to try to help him. We can't just get rid of him because he's having a bad day."

"A bad day for a dragon could be a disaster for us all. That's not a risk I'm willing to take", Stoick stated. "Gobber?"

Gobber stepped forward, and Hiccup turned with fear. He twirled and threw a bola at Hookfang, tying his wings up. The Nightmare tried to use his fire, but nothing came out.

"Ha, you're all out of fire." He unsheathed his sword and started to approach the dragon with it raised, ready to strike, but Hiccup tried to stop him grabbing onto his arm.

"I can't let you do this."

"There's no choice. It has to be done." He swung his arm up trying to make her let go but her grip stayed strong, hanging on and practically dangling. She even used her wings to try and keep him back trying to fly backwards.

Hookfang flamed up again, burning the ropes off and roaring in their faces when they saw a rotten tooth in his mouth. They both stared, stunned

"Do _you_ see _that_?" Gobber asked shocked.

"I do." She let go, and Gobber sheathed his sword ready to put the dragon out of his misery. Gobber leaped onto the Nightmare, wrestling with Hookfang and trying to get the tooth out. After a few moments, Hookfang threw him off, and in the process, the tooth was pulled out as well.

"Ah, you didn't kill him!" Snotlout shouted in relief.

"For a toothache? What kind of lunatic are you?!" he said holding the tooth for everyone to see. It had a massive hole in it, and it was no wonder Hookfang was in so much pain.

Hookfang looked much happier, going to Snotlout and batting him playfully. The boy laughed at first, only to become embarrassed and stopped his dragon asking for someone to train 'that' out of him.

"Thank you, Gobber. A bad tooth, I can't believe I didn't think of that." Hiccup said feeling rather grateful as well as stupid.

"That's because you're not Gobber! I've forgotten more about dragons than most men will ever know. Well, better go put the girls away." He moved to do so, until Hiccup stopped him.

"Gobber, wait! Not so fast."

He turned back as she explained. "I think I've finally found the perfect job for you. Fixing dragon teeth!" she exclaimed happily.

000

The following morning, they set up shop, hung a dragon's tooth at the front of the forge, and spread the word to get their dragon's teeth cleaned and checked out by Gobber. A line quickly formed and feeling happy and needed once more, Gobber sung.

" _Well I've got my ax and I've got my mace, and I love my wife with the ugly face. I'm a Viking through and through…!"_

* * *

… _Finding a new job for Gobber wasn't easy. But, when the world around you changes, the good men find a way to change with it; even if needing a little help. Gobber is one of those good men. In fact, he's one of the best._


	3. The Terrible Twos

**Bonus chapter for the Holidays. Happy Hanukkah for any fellow Jews out there!**

* * *

 _ **The Terrible Twos**_

 _When you're riding a dragon, communication is key. You almost have to read each other's minds or else, well or else you become Snotlout and Hookfang, crashing and fighting all the time. You have to have an open mind too, because sometimes, your dragon knows better than you._

000

During a training session Hiccup decided to test every one's communication with their dragons by flying low evasive maneuvers through the forest. The session had only just started and Hookfang was already not cooperating.

"Are you _trying_ to kill me?!" Snotlout yelled at his dragon after being plowed through several trees, his dragon unscathed.

 **"Maybe?!"**

"You gotta go back, I think you missed a branch."

 **"If you insist?"**

000

Aric and Shadowstar were heading for two trees that crossed together. "Shadowstar up!"

 **"Alright?"** She said a little confused. She threw him up and she flew down. Her rider screamed with terror, but stopped when he landed onto her back, safe once again.

"You were right girl, it was down. I almost died."

"Almost died?! I would've died!" Snotlout shouted over.

Astrid flew by seeing Snotlout with branches in his hair and nose, taking one that was in his nose out. "That's a good look for you", she said meaning it to be a joke, but Snotlout took it seriously putting the branch back in his nostril.

000

Hiccup was doing the drill with Toothless for a while, but soon decided to practice her own flying.

"What do you think bud. Okay if I solo fly for a bit?"

He purred in agreement, knowing she needed the practice, and she detached her metal leg from Toothless' tail. She leaped off, taking air herself as he glided down, running on the ground below following where Hiccup flew above, both maneuvering around the trees. She stumbled a few times, but overall, it was one of her best flights, evading every tree pretty well.

She was flying just in front of the twins when she noticed Fishlegs was missing. "Hey, has anyone seen Fishlegs?!" she called out.

"I saw him yesterday", Ruffnut answered. "Does that count?"

Hiccup groaned. "Come on bud, we've gotta find Fishlegs!" she called down to Toothless, and they went in search, Hiccup from above, and Toothless from below.

After a few minutes she saw the two stuck in two separate trees. **"Hiccup, I found them! Over here!"** she heard Toothless call.

"I see them bud!" She picked up some speed, flying closer, and then landing beside the split tree her friend was stuck in between. "There you are Fishlegs", she said as she landed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just…hanging out", Fishlegs answered.

 **"Literally"** , Toothless commented.

"Not like I crashed or anything…" her friend continued. "Okay I crashed. There, I said it", he then finished quickly.

Hiccup walked over to where Fishlegs hung to pull him out. She reached up, grabbed his pants, and pulled down.

"Oops", she said holding out the pants she had just ripped off.

"And…there goes my dignity."

This time, she decided to grab his boot, not even risking the possibility of his skivvies being ripped off. She pulled on his foot as hard as she could, pulling him back a little, but unable to actually pull him through. She let go, stumbling back a little, huffing.

"Yeah, you're…pretty stuck."

 **"Hic, why don't I just shoot him through?"**

"Was that Toothless? What's he saying?" Fishlegs asked a little worried what the dragon was possibly planning.

"Uh… I think we know how to get you down…but uh, you have to stay _perfectly_ still."

"Why? What're you gonna do?" he asked now curious.

"Careful bud, he's not wearing any pants."

"Huh? Wait a second! What does my lack of pants have to—?"

He didn't get to chance to finish when he was suddenly propelled into the air, then, caught by Toothless landing on his back.

"Thank you", he said timidly, getting off his back. He then turned to Hiccup who stood a little ways behind him. "I believe those are mine?"

She threw him his pants, and then looked down awkwardly as he put them back on. Once done, she asked, "Now, what are we gonna do about Meat—?"

Her question was answered when Meatlug's weight caused the branches to give out. "–lug."

"Can you not tell the others that Meatlug broke the trees? She's sensitive about her weight", he finished in a whisper covering her ears.

"How did this even happen?"

"I don't know? I was just flying along, taking notes on the flora and the fauna…typical guy stuff. Then something weird jumped out of the bushes. It was like a… like a flaming squirrel!"

"Really? I flaming squirrel?" she said disbelievingly, crossing her arms and leaning on one hip like Aric did to her almost all the time.

"Or chipmunk?"

She just gave him an 'are you serious' look.

"Or some other flammable rodents? I don't know Hiccup! It scared us! Isn't that enough for you?!" He yelled as he climbed onto Meatlug, and then flew away.

"Did you hear that? A flaming squirrel", Hiccup said turning to Toothless thinking the idea to be crazy. She got on to Toothless' back and they began to take off to join the others. "Everyone knows there's no such thing as a—FLAMING SQUIRREL!" She shouted as a flaming something shot out of the bushes causing Toothless to stop abruptly and Hiccup to be thrown off.

"Woah! You saw that right?"

She didn't wait for an answer, instead peaking her head over the branch the ball of fire burned a hole through. As she looked over though, she didn't see a flaming squirrel, rather, a little dragon cowering in a small cave-like hole in the rocks. The dragon was orange and yellow with a gray face, and one horn on each side of his head, as well as on the top and his snout. She approached the dragon from the side, trying not to scare the poor thing.

"Hey there little guy. Who are you?"

The dragon didn't answer, rather, snapping at her hand when she reached it out. Despite that, Hiccup remained completely calm. "Whoa there, settle down big fella", she tried, thinking she might have insulted him by calling him 'little' just like the Terrors often did. The dragon still didn't answer her, or, not in a way she understood. It was almost like baby talk, but for dragons. She supposed he must have been a baby, maybe lost and abandoned like Toothless was when he was little.

"I've never seen anything like him", she then commented to Toothless who came by for a closer look. He sniffed, and then began to act strange, glancing at her than back at the dragon, then, demanding to the dragon, **"Leave!"**

"Toothless, stop, you're not helping", Hiccup intervened, thinking Toothless was just being territorial. You know, I think we may have discovered a new species here— Whoa, hey, Toothless!" she exclaimed as Toothless tried shoving her away.

 **"Come on, we're leaving."**

"What? What has gotten into you? He's hurt. We have to help him. "

 **"No! Hiccup, it's dangerous. His** _ **species**_ **is dangerous! If his mother comes back, what do think will happen?"**

"Toothless, please, you're being paranoid. Besides, how would you feel if you were hurt as a hatchling, and no one came to your help just because you're a Night Fury."

 **"But—"**

"No buts. We're helping him, and that's final."

She walked past her 'brother', and to the scared baby in pain. _'How could Toothless ever think this little guy was ever dangerous?'_

"Hey there", she said softly. "Don't be afraid, I'm a friend." She took out some dragon nip, and the little guy snapped again roaring his tiny roar.

"It's okay, it's just a little dragon nip." The dragon came closer sniffing. "It's good. See?" He was about to take it from her, when Toothless roared a threatening warning to the dragon. The baby roared back in a way a baby would scream, and then hopped onto Hiccup's torso.

"Toothless…—Agh!" she screamed in pain as the dragon sunk his claws into her chest. "Little dragon, big claws! Come on, we'll fix you right up. And I don't want to hear any ifs, ands, or buts. Got it mister?" she said, turning to Toothless.

He grumbled in reply, but let her get on with the baby dragon. **"Fine. But right after he goes Right. Back. Here."**

"Yes, dad", she mocked.

They flew to the others telling them to meet back at the academy, and then headed there to show everyone the new dragon. Once there, Fishlegs was ecstatic. "This is so exciting! It's a whole new species! We have no idea what it's capable of. There's no telling what it might do."

"Flame! Do it", Tuffnut challenged wanting to see the flaming squirrel Fishlegs talked about. The dragon, instead, jumped on his face biting his nose. "Ah! Get it off, get it off, get it off!" His sister just laughed at his pain, but screamed when Tuffnut pried the dragon off and he pounced on her. "Hey, that _is_ funny."

"Come on you guys, this is serious", Hiccup intervened motioning for the hatchling to come to her. He did so, and jumped into her arms feeling safer, and much calmer, with her. "We have to figure out what to do with him. He's hurt!"

" _He's_ hurt?" Tuffnut questioned referring to his reddened nose the dragon almost chewed off.

"He's just really scared. He'll settle down", she said beginning to pet the dragon's head and under his chin.

"Uh…new species? Remember? We actually don't know what he'll do?" Fishlegs said.

"Well somebody's gotta take him home?" Astrid pointed out.

Everyone stepped back from where Hiccup stood with the baby, not wanting to deal with it, but Hiccup didn't mind. "Well big guy, here's your somebody", she said holding him up to her. The dragon seemed happy to go with her too.

 **000**

Toothless was at home still waiting for Hiccup, after she had dropped him off, not wanting the baby to be frightened with so many strange humans and dragons around. During this time, he thought about her, and why she just wouldn't listen to him. She knew the dragon was a baby, a baby of a dangerous species in fact. If she'd just let him explain… If the mother came back to find her child gone, his 'sister' would be in tremendous danger! In fact, she'd be in danger no matter what species; even a Terror. Nevertheless, the village would be destroyed, as well as half the island. But of course, she knew best, and he was just being paranoid.

At last, Hiccup returned, unfortunately with the threat in her arms. "Hey, bud. Sorry, you know how the others are." She walked across the room, to the table where she laid the hatchling down. Her father then came in seeing the new dragon.

"No, no, no!" he said immediately, followed by going to grab some fire wood for the fire place. "He's not staying here! I've got a one and a half dragon limit!"

"Oh, come on, he's not a very big dragon? Think of it more as… a flaming squirrel."

"Don't want one of those either." He placed the fire into the pit, but Toothless wasn't paying attention still focused on the issue of Hiccup and that dragon.

"Toothless?" Stoick asked. "What are you waiting for?"

Getting out of his head, Toothless prepared a small plasma blast, but before he could light it, the little threat beat him to it, causing him to rear back in shock.

"Ah, looks like you got torched."

 **"Ugh!"**

"Oh, that's his name by the way. Torch", Hiccup's father continued.

"So he can stay?"

"Well, can't throw him out now? We just named him."

Toothless couldn't believe his eyes. He was going to let him stay? Just because he lit the fire before him? _**'That little pest better watch it'**_ he thought as he growled.

A little later, it was dinner time, and Toothless was starving. Well, not really, but his stomach felt like he was.

"Okay", Hiccup said carrying a large basket filled with tasty fish to him, "100 for you. And 1 for you", she finished giving the pest next to him a fish. "There you go boys, your first supper together." She then went to the table to enjoy her own dinner with her father, and Toothless watched for a moment. When he looked back down to his dinner, he found it gone; completely eaten.

 **"You!"** he roared, scaring the baby into the rafters.

"Toothless?" Hiccup asked looking back. She saw his basket already empty, and exclaimed with shock, "Woah, Toothless, you sure are hungry tonight, aren't ya, bud?"

Hiccup came up to take the empty basket away, and Toothless angrily roared at the pest, and the little thing just roared back trying to mimic him up on the rafters.

 **000**

"Okay, Torch, this is where you're gonna sleep." Later that night, as they were getting ready to sleep, Hiccup had laid out a small rock slab for the pest. The ungrateful little threat to them all decided to sleep on Toothless' rock instead, causing him hopped down onto his bed, grabbed Torch's tail, and swing him off of the loft and across the house. He turned back, expecting to see no Torch, when he unfortunately and surprisingly saw the dragon there.

 **"What—? How did you—?"**

"Aw, would you look at that? He's made himself at home", Hiccup interrupted, having not noticed what just transpired. "Toothless, you don't mind sharing your bed for the night, do you?"

 **"Yes!"** he roared, and jumped onto the rafters near the window that sat over his bed. The pest didn't seem to care, just curling up on _his_ bed.

"Hope he sleeps through the night, he hardly ate", Hiccup obliviously said walking over to her bed.

 **"Excuse me?!"**

"Toothless? Go to sleep." She blew out the candle on her bedside keeping the room lit, and curled up in her bed, laying on her stomach because of her wings, and going to sleep.

Toothless laid down on his new bed, and looked down to the hatchling. Torch's eyes opened, seeming unsatisfied with his sleeping arrangement, and Toothless thought the dragon was going to go to his own bed that Hiccup made, but instead, he went to Hiccup's bed. He curled and snuggled up against her, and Hiccup put a wing around him.

Toothless growled with anger at that. What Hiccup just did, consciously or not, was a sign of protection and even love in some cases. The hatchling was only supposed to stay for a few days. He was _not_ supposed to make himself at home, and take _his_ family. Then Toothless remembered it was just a baby, probably scared or confused and missing his mother. He tried to keep clam reassuring himself that Hiccup would do the right thing and return the dragon to where they found it, and with those thoughts in mind he tried to go to sleep, not letting his doubts and fears enter.

Toothless didn't get much sleep, however, when he heard a roar. And it wasn't just any roar. He looked at the hatchling and Hiccup still asleep together, and then jumped out the window fearing what he knew might come. When he got to a cliff he could see in the distance fire coming from the forest and the same roar was heard. He looked out to the burning forest with determination lighting his eyes.

 **"Whether Hiccup likes it or not, we have to put that hatchling back where he belongs."**

 **000**

The following morning, as Hiccup was preparing to leave, Toothless tried to tell Hiccup about the mother coming.

"How do you even _know_ that roar was his mother?"

 **"I don't, but… I just know! It's too big of a coincidence!"**

"For all you know it was just some other dragon. No, Toothless, I'm not risking abandoning him."

 **"Why won't you just listen?!"**

"Because I don't _understand_. Why do keep telling me to get rid of him? To just leave him in the rock we found him in scared and alone?"

 **"For your own safety?"**

"Or, maybe you're just threatened by him. Don't think I didn't see the jealousy last night. Just admit it bud, this isn't about Torch. It's about _you_. Look, I have to go meet the others at the academy. You can come with us, or not, but you have to stop… _this_."

She left with Torch, leaving Toothless feeling angry and betrayed.

000

As Hiccup flew with Torch to the academy, she couldn't stop thinking about Toothless and the way he'd been acting. They hadn't seen any other dragon of Torch's kind, and there was no telling if Torch had a family or not. If he did, and she _had_ taken him away by mistake, it was something she didn't intend, but she _wasn't_ going to take the risk of leaving him where no family would come.

She thought, of all dragons, Toothless would understand; maybe even feel sympathy. When he was little, before he had encountered the Red Death Queen, he was alone too. She didn't know how he lost his family— maybe Toothless didn't even know— but he did tell her of how abandoned and lost he felt. He wandered for years with no pack or family to guide him. She didn't want that fate for Torch too. And she thought Toothless wouldn't either.

But, it was like he was threatened by Torch's presence. Ever since they came across the dragon, he'd been acting that way. He claimed it was because taking the baby was dangerous and she at first thought he was just being paranoid and over protective. But now, after last night, she began to wonder if maybe there was something more going on; maybe Toothless was threatened of Torch for a different reason? Nevertheless, Torch was staying. At least until he was able to fend off for himself.

When Hiccup had come up to the academy, she saw her friends had already arrived, and Toothless had apparently come as well, even if on a cliff near it. He had a serious look on his face, and was just staring out. He was probably just mad.

She landed with Torch still in her arms, and walked in. Her friends were all gathered around a table and she walked up to it, prepared to study and figure out what Torch's species was all about.

"Alright Torch, let's figure out what you are", she said as she placed him onto the table.

"Oh, this is so exciting! Documenting a whole new species? Learning all about it?" Fishlegs bounced with excitement.

"Wait, learning?" Tuffnut asked

"No thanks," Ruffnut stated.

"There's _nothing_ in the Book of Dragons that looks _anything_ like him", Hiccup said, ignoring the twins, flipping through the book.

Fishlegs, somehow, became even more excited by that news. "We even get to determined what it's called. Heh. That is... that is a really big responsibility. I don't know if I'm ready for that."

"I am! I'm gonna name the snot out of it!" Snotlout interjected.

Meanwhile, Aric was measuring the dragon's wings for Hiccup to document. "20 inches for the wings", he said.

"That's a big wingspan", Hiccup noted jotting the measurement down in her notebook.

"Big Wing! Big Span?! Big Wingspan!" Snotlout shouted as names.

Hiccup and the Hofferson siblings all rolled their eyes.

"May I have the honor of administering the claw-test?" Fishlegs asked. He didn't wait for an answer, rolling out a sheet of parchment and holding it out to the dragon. Torch sliced it up flawlessly with his sharp talons. "Look at these talons... They're razor-like."

"Sharp Claw! Razor Feet! Razor-Sharp-Claw-Talon-Feet!"

Even the twins couldn't believe Snotlout's ridiculous suggestions wondering if he was actually serious or not.

"You know what's next don't you?" Fishlegs asked, suddenly putting an arm around Hiccup, startling her for a second.

"Uh, no. Not really."

"Only the single most important test to determine a dragon's reaction to eels...? The Eel-Reaction Test?!"

Astrid opened a basket, taking out an eel, and their dragons immediately ran at the sight of it. She brought the slimy creature in front of Torch, and while at first he did seem frightened, he looked curious sniffing it. Then, he did the unexpected. He ate the eel.

"He ate it! He ate the eel!" Fishlegs exclaimed, before being shoved aside by Snotlout.

"Eel Eater! Come on that's perfect."

"Fishlegs, has there _ever_ been a dragon who wasn't afraid of—" Hiccup gestured to where the eel once was, her voice wavering with her last words. She wasn't afraid of eels in anyway, but she knew dragons couldn't eat eel because it made them sick. It explained why they were so frightened by them, and why Hiccup became sick herself when trying one.

" _Never_ in recorded history. We are in uncharted waters my friend."

"Do you hear that Torch? You're one of a kind", Hiccup said coming up and petting his head.

"Now we need to get it to fly."

"Maybe if Torch saw Toothless fly." _'It might also make Toothless feel better. I did kind of did ditch him this morning.'_

"Toothless! Let's take a ride, bud!" she called. She knew he was muttering something, but what she couldn't hear. Her hearing wasn't exactly as great as his. **"Toothless?!"**

Her cousin laughed. "So much for the 'dragon trainer'."

"Stubborn dragon", she muttered.

"We've got this. Watch, and learn", he said before Hookfang zoomed off, flying against whatever it was Snotlout wanted. Sometimes it really did seem like Hookfang wanted to kill him. When the two returned Snotlout was the one who was breathless. "Okay, your turn…But don't think you have to live up to that."

Torch hopped off the table, beginning to circle the floor strangely.

"What's he doing?" Ruffnut asked.

"I think something's wrong", Astrid stated.

"Oh man, we broke him", Tuffnut wined.

"Maybe he can't _fly_ ", Hiccup said.

Torch, then, began to spark and fly in circles in the air going higher and higher in a spiral. He circled the academy several times before coming back to the middle where he started, circling in small circles once again, to a complete stop.

" _You_ are one incredible little dragon", she praised. He jumped into her arms and she smiled adoringly at him.

"Woah, look at that burn mark", Ruffnut pointed out. The mark left behind was just as unique as his flying, making a spiral-like shape.

"Did you see how he flew? He spun…like…like a Typhoon", Fishlegs said.

"And he came _back_ just like a boomerang", Astrid added.

"Flame-Spinner! Flaming Comebacker!"

"No", Fishlegs said, "Typhoomerang."

"Typhoomerang…? Nah, I don't get it."

 **000**

That night Toothless was still on guard, ready to pounce when the time came. He decided if Hiccup wasn't going to listen to him, then she wasn't, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to still protect her for when the hatchling's mother did come. He was perched outside on the roof hearing Hiccup and the dragon bond even more.

"Hahaha, you like my helmet eh…? Alright, just hold still, Torch. I'm trying to draw you. You're getting your own chapter."

He heard the dragon try to say **'Hiccup'** , and he guessed Hiccup noticed as well because she began to repeat the word to him as he tried saying it back.

Toothless then heard the roar he was waiting for. He rushed inside to grab Torch and leave him in the forest for his mama to find, but, unfortunately, he ended up knocking Hiccup over in the process to get to him, and her charcoal pencil broke as well.

"Toothless...? What was that for? Now look what you did."

 **"You have to follow me."**

"I don't have to follow you anywhere after the way you've been acting. _Especially_ after today. I mean… now you're ignoring me?! I thought you might be mad after our little fight this morning, but seriously?"

Toothless tried to speak and explain, but she interrupted before he could get a word out.

"I'm going downstairs to get more charcoal. Just… _don't_ do anything while I'm gone."

Torch wanted to follow her, scared of Toothless, but Hiccup reassured him she'd be back, and had him stay in the room with Toothless. Once Hiccup was gone, he saw his chance. But, before he made his move, the furious and worried roar sounded again. He turned to the window, knocking Torch aside with his tail by accident— he wasn't sorry— distracted by sudden fear; it was getting closer. There wasn't much time left. The next thing he knew the little dragon bit his tail. He screeched and turned to him having had enough. He began to chase the little brat around the room, when the hatchling shot fire at the floor boards beside his bed.

000

Hiccup was downstairs, trying to ignore the two dragons clearly fighting and preparing to give Toothless another stern talking to, when she swore she heard fire crackling. She quickly looked up to see her room on fire, and flew up as fast as she could, finding the stairs to be too slow.

"Toothless!"

She grabbed a blanket and beat the fire next to Toothless' bed, snuffing it out before it could get any worse. Torch then jumped into her arms, as Toothless growled at him.

"Wha-what is going on here?"

 **"This little brat bit my tail!"**

"So you decided to try and blast him?!"

 **"No, I growled and him, he ran, and I chased him.** _ **He's**_ **the one that started the fire!"**

"He's a _baby_ Toothless! He doesn't know any better. _You_ on the other hand do."

 **"UGH! FORGET IT!"** Her best friend suddenly roared at her, losing it. He jumped out the window and ran.

"Toothless, Wait! Come Back…!"

Torch began to squirm in her arms getting antsy. "It's okay big guy. He's starting to really worry _me_ too."

 **000**

Toothless ran, and ran. He wasn't sure where he was running just that he was. Why was Hiccup always siding with that dragon? _He_ was supposed to be her best friend, her _brother_ , but then Torch came and now everything was going wrong. He was breaking them apart.

He then heard chirping like Torch's and had a hunch he was close to where more of them were. He started running in that direction, then hopped from tree side to tree side, stopping at one to spy. He saw two hatchlings like Torch playing, and it made him angry to see them. A wild boar was then heard, and it ran towards the hatchlings, the little guys running away.

But then, the boar was stopped by the dragon Toothless was actually afraid to see, and she was much larger than he originally thought; in a way, he wished he'd been wrong. The mother was twenty times larger than Torch, and much more deadly. She shot a stream of fire around the boar daring to hurt her children, circling around it and setting the whole area on fire. Toothless had to return the hatchling, and he had to do it fast.

000

The next day Hiccup was at the forge with Gobber needing to talk. All night she worried about Toothless, hoping he'd come back so she could apologize for whatever she did to make him so upset and angry and could talk things out. But he never came home. She didn't know what was going on, or what to do, and needed some advice.

"I don't know, it's weird. It's like Toothless is jealous or something. Which is great; my first boyfriend is a dragon."

"Another thing we have in common", Gobber responded. "Something must be going on under the surface. Dragons are complex creatures Hiccup, they operate on many emotional levels."

"Not according to Toothless. He thinks we're the complex ones. And besides, I know something else _has_ to be going on, but what am I supposed to think when all he wants for me to do is abandon Torch. I can't do that. He should understand more than _any_ other dragon, but for some _strange_ reason he just doesn't care. I don't know what to think anymore."

Toothless then appeared out of nowhere roaring frantically.

"Woah, Toothless. It's okay, calm down."

 **"Follow, or give me Torch now! We don't have much time!"** He roared again, this time stomping on the ground angrily. His tone and his words made no sense to Hiccup. He was acting crazy, and it only added more confusion as to what was going on.

"Yo-you see? This is what I'm talking about." He roared again telling her to give him Torch. **"Toothless, settle down!"** Torch then jumped out of her arms, at which Toothless grabbed him and took off running.

"Gobber, grab him!"

"You want to dance big boy? Cause I've got my dancing shoe on!" Gobber said as he blocked Toothless' break for it.

Torch then squirmed and sparked causing him the ability to escape Toothless' hold and fly away. Toothless chased the Typhoomerang down, and Gobber, in the attempt to stop him, grabbed onto his tail. It only succeeded in Gobber getting dragged along as Toothless crashed through the forge after the little dragon, eventually leading to Gobber crashing under one of the tables Hiccup was standing by.

"My pan pipes!" he exclaimed getting up. "Now I can get the band back together!"

Toothless was still chasing Torch, until Hiccup had enough. **"Toothless!"**

Torch ran behind her hiding behind her tail, as Toothless stopped face to face with Hiccup.

 **"Back! Down!"** She growled as they stared each other down, neither one willing to back down. Gobber than began to play his pipes, to the mood, making it very hard for Hiccup to concentrate. "Not helping."

"Sorry."

"I don't know what's gotten into you, but I don't like it", she then said to Toothless.

He stormed off without a word, and Gobber played his pipes again to emphasize the mood once more. She slowly turned to him, silently telling him he still wasn't helping.

"What?!"

She shook her head and turned away, going after Toothless. She had to deal with him before someone got hurt. When she found him, she told him she wanted to take a flight with him to the cove. That maybe some time alone and in the air would be good. Maybe it was all they really needed. Surprisingly, he agreed, and allowed her on. They were up in the air faster than lightning and flying to the forest with the same speed.

"Woah! Woah…!" Hiccup screamed in surprise. They were coming onto where the cove was fast, and when they almost reached it, he just sped right past it turning the wrong way as well.

"Toothless! The cove…is this way!" Toothless, once again, ignored her.

"Where are you going?!" She kept pulling on his reigns, trying to get him to stop.

 **"We're almost there, just a little more…"** he muttered.

"No! We're going to the cove!" she clicked his tail fin in a different position forcing him to turn the way she wanted.

 **"No!"** he yelled as he was forced to turn.

They landed in the cove, and Hiccup hopped off.

"Okay, you need to stay here."

 **"What?"** Toothless said sadly and surprised.

"I never thought bringing Torch home would lead to this. I've got to separate you two until this is all sorted out." She turned to walk away.

 **"So you're just abandoning me here? You're so afraid of abandoning Torch that you're willing to do the same to me?"** Toothless was now talking soft, as if this was the thing to snap him back to normal.

"What? No, I-I'll be back… once I find him a new home." She turned to walk out, but Toothless blocked her path.

 **"You can't just do this to me."**

"Toothless, please, this is for the best."

 **"No, it's not. You don't understand! His mother is coming! I saw her!"**

"…I'm sorry bud, but I just… _can't_ believe you right now."

 **"What happened to us? Why is it that when** _ **he**_ **showed up, everything changed?"**

"I— I don't know…" She said slowly. She moved to leave but Toothless wouldn't let her pass.

 **"I'm not letting you leave without me."**

She didn't want to have to do it, but she had to. **"I'm so sorry, Toothless."**

And with a heavy heart she spread her wings, flying up and out of the cove.

 **"Hiccup! Hiccup, you can't leave me in here! She'll kill you! HICCUP…!"**

She only kept going.

000

That night, Hiccup couldn't sleep. She lay in bed awake, her thoughts preventing her from even attempting to close her eyes. She looked at Torch who was sleeping in Toothless' bed, and she wondered, _'What did happen to them? When did everything change?'_ She started to wonder if maybe it was her own fault, and she'd only made things worse by pushing him away even further.

 **000**

Toothless, too, didn't sleep that night, only hanging upside down by a branch with his eyes wide open. He felt betrayed, but also wondered if maybe it was his own fault. That maybe if he'd acted differently they wouldn't be in this mess. Maybe he should have been more patient. Maybe he shouldn't have acted so childish. Maybe he _was_ being too over protective. Maybe if he had just been there to help Hiccup, rather than fight her, then maybe she would have listened. But it was too late now, and Hiccup was out there with Torch's mother still on a rampage, looking for him.

He suddenly heard something rustling in the trees, and saw a few being knocked down. Toothless jumped down from his branch and raced to a rock where he could get a better view. That's when he saw her. Torch's mother. She was getting closer to the village, and closer to Hiccup. No matter the odds, he had to stop her.

He raced to the wall of the cove and tried with all his might to climb out like he had when Hiccup was in danger months before. But, for some reason, it didn't work this time and he only fell back down to the ground.

He looked at his tail and smacked it on the ground with frustration. He tried one more time, flapping his wings in the hopes to get a little higher, but he couldn't make it over the lip, and he was back to the floor of the cove once more. He did the only thing left he could do. Roar for Hiccup in hopes she would hear him and come.

 **"HICCUP…! HICCUP…! HICCUP…!"**

She never came. For whatever reason, Toothless didn't know.

000

Hiccup sat on the academy floor with Torch the next day, petting him as he sat on her lap. She thought it would make her feel better, but it didn't. Last night she heard Toothless' calls for her. He sounded so scared; she wanted to go to him, thought he might have been in trouble, but for some reason she didn't. She just sat in her bed, trying to ignore him until he stopped.

Astrid tried to reassure her, sitting next to her like an older sister would. "You did the right thing with Toothless. He'll snap out of it."

"Yeah, but what if he doesn't? Then you won't have a dragon to ride?" Snotlout said on Hookfang, beginning to put whatever the pieces were in his mind together, "And if you don't have a dragon to ride, then you can't be the LEADER OF THE DRAGON ACADEMY! HA!"

"Yeah, then I'd take over. Do you really want that?" Aric questioned on top of Shadowstar.

"You guys would not _believe_ what we just saw", Tuffnut said as he and his sister made their way in on Barf and Belch.

"Excuse me we're having a power struggle", Snotlout said.

"We're _not_ having a power struggle", Hiccup said with a unemotional tone.

"The forest; ultimate destruction", Tuffnut continued.

"It was beautiful. The whole thing was torched", Ruffnut added.

"Torched", Hiccup said putting pieces together. "Show me", she finally said.

The riders all flew to where the twins spotted the destruction, and landed near a burn mark in a clearing that was all too familiar.

"Like we said, ultimate destruction", Ruffnut said as they landed and walked closer to the burn mark.

"We've seen that burn mark before", Hiccup said worriedly.

"Not that size", Aric noted.

"You know what this means?"Fishlegs said, "Big burn mark…"

"Big Typhoomerang", Hiccup finished, looking up to see what she could only assume to be Torch's mother flying overhead.

"He looks really mad", Tuffnut said.

"Uh, it's not a 'he'; it's a 'she'. That's Torch's mother", Hiccup corrected.

"Torch is a baby", Astrid realized.

"Toothless was right… He was trying to show me this the whole time…" Hiccup muttered not paying attention anymore.

"Wait a minute! You knew?!" Snotlout yelled, having heard her.

"Knew what?"

"That Torch is a baby!"

"Yeah… didn't you?" she asked looking at her friends.

"NO!" they all said angrily.

"Hiccup, are you nuts! What were you thinking?!" Aric chastised.

"I-I-I didn't know. I thought he was alone! Toothless kept trying to tell me, but I wouldn't listen! Ugh, _why_ didn't I listen?!"

"Uh, Hiccup?"

"What?" she looked up, and saw Torch's mother spotted her holding her child. "Uh-oh."

The Typhomerang dived towards them, and Hiccup put Torch down trying to shoo him away. "Now, uh, go home to your mama…"

She looked up, and saw his mama shoot a stream of fire at them.

"Run!" she yelled. "You guys go that way; I'll lead her back to the forest away from the village." She took to the air for better speed, and raced low into the forest in the direction of the cove.

"Hiccup!" she heard Aric yell in fear.

She looked back and saw the dragon right on her tail, as well as Torch following her, almost as if he thought _she_ was his mother. She beat her wings faster, but she could only go so fast given how long she'd been flying.

"Oh, please stop following me", she whined at the baby Typhoomerang.

She had the cove in her sights, only a little further and she'd be with Toothless. She looked back and the Typhoomerang was getting closer.

"Toothless!" she called as she dived down and he jumped up meeting her half-way. They connected, and were in the air together at last.

"Oh, Toothless, I'm so sorry. You were right. I should have listened to you."

 **"I'm sorry too. I should have acted more like a grown dragon, rather than, a stupid youngling."**

"No, bud, I was the one who was stupid. I should have never—"

 **"Uh, Hiccup?"**

"Yeah?"

 **"Can we talk about this later?"**

The mother was right in front of them now on the edge of the cove.

"Oh, right."

She shot at them, and they evaded it, getting higher into the air as Hiccup and Toothless both beat their wings in time. She took flight as well, chasing the duo down.

"Toothless, evasive maneuvers!"

 **"Right!"**

They did so, flying passed the sea stacks. Hiccup looked back only to see Torch's mom still chasing them.

"Oh, why won't she stop?" She heard Torch chirp behind her, and saw him sitting behind her. "What the— Torch?! What are you doing?! You need to be with your mother!"

He wasn't understanding though, staying right where he sat. "Toothless we have to try something else. We'll use her size against her. Toothless, up!" He flew up. "Now dive!" he followed her instruction again, the Typhoomerang still following. They leveled out just before they hit the ground, but the Typhoomerang was too big, and needed more time to stop. She ended up crashing on the ground.

Toothless landed in front of her. "I hope she's okay."

Torch, then, must have realized she was his mother, 'cause the next thing Hiccup and Toothless heard was, **"Mama!"** Torch, then hopped off of Toothless, and went to his mother, trying to get her up. **"Mama, mama…"**

She opened her eyes, and looked at her child. **"My little one, you're safe."** She looked back at her other two hatchlings who climbed off her wings to reunite with their brother.

"I am so sorry. I promise I would have never taken him, had I known."

 **"It's alright, youngling. He's safe, that's all that matters."**

"Thank you", she said back, then looked down to Toothless. "Good job, bud. Everyone's back where they belong."

The Typhoomerang gathered her hatchlings and prepared to leave with them safely on her wings.

"Good bye, Torch", she said, and waved.

 **"Hicc-up"** , he said back, making her smile.

His mother flew away with sparks flying all around. It was a wonderful moment, until Toothless had to ruin it.

 **"Good riddance."**

"Toothless…"

 **"What? He was clearly trying to take my place. Did you see the way he looked at me?"**

"Okay, Toothless, whatever you say... Let's just go home."

They flew on home, and that night, Gobber joined them for dinner. He was playing his pan pipes as Hiccup sat in a chair feeding Toothless some fish playfully.

Gobber stopped playing for a moment and then sighed. "I wrote this just for the occasion."

Hiccup continued petting Toothless as she once again apologized for being so stupid. "I should have known you were just trying to protect me, bud. That's what you do."

Toothless then began hacking and half a fish plopped on her lap. "And then you do that."

 **"Eat it."**

She looked at the fish, then to him, and then back at the fish sighing. "I guess I deserve that."

She tried her best to remove all the sticky saliva, and then did as he said, eating it.

000

… _Communication between dragon and rider goes both ways. Not only must the dragon follow the rider's lead, but the rider must listen to the dragon as well. Because sometimes, what the dragon is trying to say is what you really need to hear._

* * *

 **I have to say I'm really proud of this one. Let me know what you thought.**


	4. In Dragons We Trust

_**In Dragons We Trust**_

 _As you fly through life it's always good to know who you can trust, and who you can't._ _I know I can always count on_ _Toothless_ _. And it's important for him to know that, no matter what, he can always count on me. There is one man, however, who neither of us can ever trust. Mildew. Mildew's fooled everyone! I'm probably getting ahead of myself though. I guess I should start from the beginning…_

000

Hiccup was free falling flatly through the air, enjoying the wind just rushing passed her when she heard Toothless's signal. She opened her eyes, and when he was underneath her she moved to a sitting position, landing onto the saddle.

"Nice catch bud. Little close, but…"

They returned to the group flying a little ways above, and Hiccup turned to Fishlegs. "Alright, it's your turn. Jump!"

"I don't want to jump!"

"You have to believe she's gonna catch you. It's a trust exercise."

"I like to do my trusting on the ground thank you very much."

"You'll be fine. It's easy."

"Easy for you to say. You've got wings!"

"Like this chicken-legs", Snotlout butted in. "WHOO-HOO-HOO-HOO!" He shouted out, raising his arms into the air, and then sliding off of Hookfang with no fear at all. Hookfang didn't seem to notice his absence.

"So, should we mention something to Hookfang?" Tuffnut asked his sister.

"Let me sleep on it", she replied.

 **"Uh…Hookfang…?"** Stormfly squawked.

"Hookfang get him!" Astrid shouted over.

 **"What?!"**

 **"Your rider!"** Toothless said with urgency.

 **"My rider?"**

Suddenly feeling lighter, Hookfang looked down and saw Snotlout tumbling through the air.

"Not feeling the trust!"

Hookfang quickly dived down to catch him, and although he did, he couldn't stop.

"AH! COMING IN TOO HOT! AHH!"

They crashed through a roof to someone's house. It was quiet, very quiet, and there was nothing but axes covering the walls as far as Snotlout could see. He looked around a little more, when he spotted, "Mildew."

The next thing the group knew, Snotlout and Hookfang crashed through the roof again, upwards, and screaming.

"You'll pay for this!" they then heard Mildew shout up at them.

"Oh, something tells me we're gonna hear about this", Hiccup said, already dreading her father's reaction.

000

That night, Hiccup got the reaction she was dreading. Her father roughly smacked down a shingle in front of her as she sat at the table, knowing she knew what it meant.

"Shingle again? Didn't we have roofing material for dinner last night? Heh…" she joked trying to lighten the mood. He only gave her a hard look, clearly not in the mood for jokes. "It was an accident dad. I'm _sure_ Mildew's making it sound a lot worse than it is."

"A dragon and a huge, obnoxious boy crashed through his roof. Twice!"

"Well sure…it sounds bad if you're gonna…stick to the facts.

"Of all the houses on the island, a dragon _had_ to crash through Mildews. You know he hates dragons more than anyone else."

"Believe me, I know. You might want to talk to him about his attitude."

"Listen to me, Hiccup. I gave you the responsibility of training those dragons. Everyone knows that. All eyes are upon you. Whatever those beasts do reflects on _you_ , and whatever _you_ do reflects on _me_!"

"I'm sorry dad, you're right", she replied, getting up from her seat.

"You and your friends are going to go back to Mildew's, and fix that roof! _Without_ your dragons!"

"Gotta a break there, bud."

"Ah! Not so fast!" her father called, when they were about to go upstairs. "Aren't you forgetting something?" He took his boots off and held them up. "It's boot night. They need to be aired out."

He stuck them way too close to her face, and Hiccup nearly gagged. "Yugh!" she exclaimed as she quickly held her nose, took them with her other hand, and held them out as far away as possible.

Toothless got a whiff too, and even he thought they smelled awful. **"Ugh!"**

"I think it's going to take more than _air_."

Hiccup walked out, still holding the boots as far away as possible, now with one hand on each boot, and then placed them outside the door. She grimaced and wiped her hands on her dress, quickly rushing inside soon after, able to still smell the awful odor. Boot night was defiantly the worst night, and during these times enhanced senses weren't so great. They might have not been as strong as a dragon's, but they were stronger than a human's, and that meant the stench was 5x stronger for her. On the bright side, her father's boots didn't smell as horrid as her uncle's; she could just see Snotlout trying to hold in his dinner.

000

As the village slept that night all was quiet and peaceful. The only disturbance was a light snowfall beginning to descend. But then, someone appeared in the village walking to one person's home with boots lying on the steps. With a quick swipe, they took the boots. One by one they swiped every single boot in sight, including the chief's.

000

The next morning, as Stoick went to grab his boots he found them missing. "Where are my boots?"

"Where are _your_ boots?" He then asked noticing Gobber, Mulch, and Bucket had none on their feet as they walked up to him.

"They've all been stolen! Every last one!" Gobber answered.

"Oh that explains why my feet are so cold", Bucket commented.

"Who could have _done_ such a thing?" Mulch asked.

"All I know is they left a mighty big foot print", Mildew butted in pointing to a dragon's foot print in the snow.

"Oh, those are Zippleback tracks", Fishlegs stated. "You can tell by the half-moon shaped arches. Well that's dragon 101 guys, I don't gotta fill you in on _that_."

"So a dragon walked through here. A _Zippleback_ according to my friend, Fishlegs. But that doesn't mean he took everyone's boots", Hiccup tried to defend.

"Well there's just one way to find out. Follow the foot prints", Mildew said.

They did so, and when the prints stopped, they were brought to the academy where Barf and Belch slept with a pile of boots surrounding them.

"So there's a pile of boots piled around a Zippleback. That doesn't mean…" Hiccup stopped when her dad held a shredded boot to her. "Okay, fine, he… took the boots", she said accepting defeat.

"How are we supposed to do any work in this weather without our boots!" one Viking shouted.

"This is outrageous!" yelled another.

"How long before something is done about these creatures, Stoick? How much more can we stand?!" Mildew added in, setting off every Viking to shout with anger.

"Listen to yourselves. My feet are cold", Gobber said mocking the whining sorry excuse for Vikings. "You're Vikings! Everything is cold! I'll fix your boots for you, you'll be back to work in no time."

"You all heard Gobber! You'll be getting your boots back as good as new!" Stoick yelled out to the crowd. It calmed them down immediately, but Mildew just wouldn't quit.

"That's it?" he asked. "No consequence for these dragons?"

"They took our boots Mildew; the world isn't coming to an end."

"Oh, don't be so sure. Dragons are wild beasts. There's no telling what else they'll do behind our sleeping backs."

At that point Hiccup had just about enough. "They don't destroy things on purpose!" she said wanting to shut him up. She paused though realizing, once again, that Mildew was right about one thing.

As much as she hated to admit it dragons were still animals. They may be intelligent, have their own complex language, and practically be as human as anyone else, but that was only a part of them. The other part was instinct, and that was a part of them that was hard to change. Hiccup had spent years learning to control certain instincts and urges that would surface within her. Of course, at the time, it was to stifle her dragon half, but she could admit learning to control her dragonish instincts was actually a good thing at times. No doubt the instincts of dragons were 10x stronger, being animals. And animals, more often than not, ran on instinct. The other issue was that dragons didn't quite understand human culture, and what they could and could not do. Taking things was certainly top on the list of things they couldn't understand was wrong— it certainly took her a while to explain it to Toothless. In the wild, if a dragon's property was left out, quite like the Vikings boots were, it was up for grabs and who ever claimed it first claimed it. No questions asked. She couldn't understand why Barf and Belch would _want_ to take them, but she could understand why they would.

"But, you do have a point, Mildew.

"Uh-wha?" he said unable to believe she said those words.

"They _are_ wild animals. And they need us to keep an eye on them. And rest assured _we_ will do just that!" She finished in exclamation and determination.

She was standing by Barf and Belch still sleeping by the boots when the two headed dragon woke up.

 **"You bring all these boots here?"**

 **"I'm attached to you stupid. How could I?"**

 **"Just asking."**

 **"Oh would you two just… get out of there"** , she butted in, batting them away from the stolen and shredded boots.

Although, what they said did make her question. _'Zipplebacks aren't exactly the smartest of dragons, but they wouldn't just forget taking the village's boots. Would they? Maybe they did it in their sleep?'_ That thought seemed unlikely though. Her gaze traveled to where the dragon had just made a foot print, and it made her do a double take. She looked at the ones they had been following, then back to the freshly made one.

' _Their depths are different! But, that doesn't make sense? Were they… framed?'_

There was no real evidence for it, but that last thought did make more sense than anything else. And she had a pretty good idea of who would want to frame them too. But she couldn't dwell on it. She had to gather her friends with a plan of how to keep the dragons in line, and maybe even catch the supposed framer.

She caught each of her friends quickly telling them all to meet her up at the abandoned catapult after lunch. After said meal Hiccup raced to the catapult to tell her friends her newly made plan. It was a little bit before everyone arrived, and the only person they were missing now was Snotlout.

"Alright, what did you drag us all up here for now?" he said rather impatiently as he finally made his way up.

"We're going on night patrol", she stated in answer to him and the rest of the gang.

"Night patrol?! I love it! What is it?" Tuffnut then asked having just realized he had no idea what night patrol was.

"It's where we patrol. At night. To keep an eye on the dragons and make sure they don't get _blamed_ for anything else."

"Blamed?" Aric asked.

"I have a hard time believing the twins' Zippleback actually took everyone's boots. For one thing, why would they take the time to take every single pair of boots in the village? That's not exactly something a dragon would do", she answered.

"Alright."

"Second, the dragon didn't even remember taking them. When they woke up, they had no clue where the boots came from. I asked them some more questions about it just to make sure, but they were absolutely clueless."

"Huh, that _is_ strange. And you want us to keep tabs on all the dragons while also looking for any suspicious activity I'm guessing", Astrid said.

"That pretty much sums it up", Hiccup confirmed.

"Um…" Fishlegs squeaked. "Have you cleared this with our parents? Because some of us might not be allowed out after a certain hour."

"Not allowed? Or afraid?" Snotlout teased.

"Hey. Things happen after dark."

"Guys, we have to do this. You heard Mildew. He wants the dragons banished", Hiccup intervened.

"Permission to shoot first and ask questions later", Ruffnut asked military style.

"Permission to skip the question", Tuffnut added.

"We're just patrolling! Nobody is shooting anyone!" She exclaimed.

"I have a question", Tuffnut said. "What's fun about that?"

"It's not _supposed_ to be fun", Aric said slowly. "It's a Hiccup idea."

"Exactly", Hiccup agreed, until she realized what he said. "What?"

000

Aric stepped up to his first house of the night wearing the stupid sash with the even dumber name. Hiccup had to be one of the worst people at coming up with names. Well, maybe not as bad as the twins, but close. He knocked on the door and only a moment later it was answered by a large Viking.

"Hello sir. Uh-um Ma'am", he corrected, seeing she was in fact a woman. To be fair it wasn't exactly clear with her size and mannerisms.

"My name is Aric and I'm with the Dragon United Monitoring Brigade."

"Dumb?" the woman clarified pointing down with the chicken leg in her hand.

"Yes, that is correct. Not. My idea. But it is easy to remember", he said quickly recovering. "If you have any dragon related problems contact us. Just cup a hand on either side of your mouth and at the top of your lungs yell—"

The door was slammed in his face. "Dumb", he finished, less than cheerful. _'Hopefully Astrid is having better luck.'_

000

Astrid was having anything but better luck. Left and right, doors were being slammed in her face. Some people didn't even open the door. They just saw the ridiculous sash and dejected her completely. It was increasingly frustrating, and she couldn't help but to just kick a bucket, which just happened to be nearby, as far as possible.

000

Meanwhile, Snotlout and Hookfang were strolling through the village looking out for any suspicious activity, Dragon or Viking related. He heard a sound and immediately went into warden mode.

"Halt! Who goes there?!"

"Take a wild guess", Gobber responded walking up to the boy.

"I don't think I like your attitude."

"Right back at ya."

"Yeah… But I'm the one with the sash", Snotlout boasted, not noticing Hookfang wandering away.

"Let me take a closer look at that." Gobber hooked his hook-hand under the sash picking the boy up. "Dumb. Well that suits you."

"Okay, I think we're done here", Snotlout then said, his voice cracking slightly, wanting to be put back down on the ground unharmed.

000

Fishlegs and Meatlug were also strolling through the village, although careful and wary. He spotted a shadow and heard a sound, and stopped frightened.

"What was that?" he whispered.

Then another large shadow came into view and Fishlegs and Meatlug high tailed it out of there as fast as they possibly could, utterly terrified.

000

The twins were fascinated by how much they scared Fishlegs, unaware by the fact that the shadow that had the boy and dragon running was Hookfang's shadow when he came up behind them. Nevertheless, they ended up bickering and fighting on which one of them was the one that actually scared him and Meatlug.

000

Hiccup and Toothless were up above patrolling, and, just as everyone else, didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Well Mildew will be happy to know what dragons do at night. They sleep like everyone else."

 **"Great. Does this mean _we_ can go to sleep?"**

000

Unfortunately what all the teens and their dragons failed to realize was that something, or someone, was heading for the Great Hall. They kicked open the doors, the wind helping greatly, and with their claw scratched and tore the Hall apart.

The next morning the Great Hall was found that way. Tapestries were torn, and claw marks littered the walls and pillars. No one could believe the sight, and were in utter shock, the teens more so than anyone else.

"Who could have done such a thing?" Stoick asked.

"Oh, looks like a dragon to me", Fishlegs obliviously said.

"We don't know for sure Fish-legs", Hiccup said frustrated.

"Sure we do. Look at these claw marks", he said examining them. "It was obviously a Monstrous Nightmare. The spacing of the talons is dead on."

"Once again… thank you Fishlegs", she said sarcastically wishing the boy would shut up with his dragon knowledge.

"Oh stop its just basic stuff", he responded clearly not getting the hint.

"But how could this happen?" Astrid asked, her voice getting higher by the moment with nervousness. "We had every dragon accounted for at all times. Right guys?"

"When you say 'at all times' and 'every dragon' what exactly do you mean?" Snotlout asked.

Both Aric and Hiccup face palmed simultaneously.

"Okay, what happened, Snotlout?" Hiccup asked trying her hardest not to lose it.

"Well, I was detaining a suspect who wasn't showing sufficient respect to the sash—"

"I think I showed sufficient respect to a sash that says 'Dumb' ", Gobber defended.

"We've gotta change that name", Aric muttered.

"Anyways, as I was detaining _said_ suspect Hookfang may have — and I'm not saying he did! But it is possible he wandered off for a few…"

"Seconds?" Ruffnut asked.

"Minutes?" Her twin followed.

"Hours", Snotlout answered.

Everyone groaned at that. The fact that he was gone for so long only made it look worse for him. Hookfang would never do such a thing as suddenly burst into the Hall and start scratching everything up, but so far all the evidence was pointing to him, and that was far from good.

The doors suddenly burst open, and the one man they really didn't need at that moment came. Mildew.

"Oh, no! It's true. The Great Hall, so many memories. My three weddings, their three funerals. Oh, the funerals", the old man reminisced. His shock and worry seemed fake, though, to Hiccup. She could smell the deceit emanating right off him in waves. Whether it was just his concern, knowing this 'tragedy' played into his case, or more, she couldn't be sure though.

"The dragon must have gone on a rampage", Gobber said, pulling her from her train of thought. "I hate to say it, Stoick, but you're gonna have to—"

"I know what has to be done", Stoick interrupted.

"So do I!" Mildew cheerfully said.

Stoick turned to Hiccup. "Starting tonight and every night I want all the dragons put in the academy under lock and key."

"Wha-that's it? Look what they did?!" Mildew shouted getting frustrated.

"This just doesn't make sense!" Hiccup tried to defend. "A dragon wouldn't just come in here and destroy the place? I mean… none of the food was even touched!" She said gesturing to the pile of fish left completely unmoved.

"I don't know why dragons do what they do—"

"I do!"

"But I'm not gonna let them do any more damage", he simply continued ignoring her. He, Gobber, and Mildew all turned away from her and out the Great Hall.

The teens all came up to Hiccup as she turned to look at them, and they all looked to each other unsure of what to do.

000

That afternoon, as Stoick was walking through the village with Gobber, they spotted the teens and their dragons flying over the island all looking quite glum. Hiccup, especially, turning to her father with a look that clearly said she was upset, mad, and disappointed. He couldn't help but sigh.

"You had to cage the dragons, Stoick. You had no choice", he said.

"I know. But to Hiccup, when I punish them I'm punishing her."

"Yeah. That girl thinks the dragons can do no wrong."

"I just hope she understands that while a father does what's best for his child, a chief must do what's best for the village."

000

The gang was all in the academy that evening. They were to lock their dragons up first, and then Hiccup would gather all the other dragons on the island and take them to the academy to lock up as well.

" _Sleep little Meatlug in your bed, where yummy little boulders dance in your head…"_

Fishlegs was singing a lullaby to Meatlug in the academy trying to get her to calm down to go to sleep, but it wasn't working. She only moved away, upset.

"That usually works", Fishlegs said. "Her whole bedtime routine is upset! She won't even lick my feet! All thanks to…" he turned and glared at Snotlout.

"Watch it Fishlegs. At least my dragon doesn't need a lullaby and a blanky" he teased.

 **"This is all your fault"** , Hookfang said to Barf and Belch as their riders were talking.

"Actually, it's your fault that all our dragons have to sleep in jail", Ruffnut said.

 **"Yeah, this isn't our fault, it's yours!"** Barf said.

"Yeah you don't see our dragon going on a rampage and wrecking stuff", Tuffnut followed his sister.

 **"I didn't wreck anything! You're the ones who took the boots!"**

 **"We didn't take anything!"** Belch responded, and the two moved forward in anger towards the Monstrous Nightmare accidentally destroying a box.

"Well, not any good stuff", Tuff amended.

"I don't think a dragon wrecked the Great Hall, or stole the boots", Hiccup stated as the two dragons kept bickering.

"None of us wants to believe it either, Hiccup, but you saw the proof", Aric told her.

"What proof?! You saw the foot prints too! They were supposed to be made by a Zippleback, but they were no deeper than mine. Look at these, I could lie down in them", she said gesturing to one of Barch's foot prints in a pile of snow.

"Well there could be a lot of explanations why a dragon made shallow foot prints", Fishlegs pointed out.

"Like, hello… he was trying to be sneaky", Ruffnut said.

"What about the fact that they didn't know what happened?! How can you explain that?!"

"They could be lying?" Astrid said.

"No. That _doesn't_ make any sense", Hiccup said.

"Alright, well how do explain the Great Hall?" Aric questioned.

Meanwhile Hookfang and Barf and Belch were still fighting, and Hookfang became so angry with the Zippleback he lit himself on fire as he and the other dragon roared.

"Snotlout could you do something about him, we're trying to think over here", Hiccup said.

"Yeah, I gave up thinking. Never been happier", Tuffnut said, as Hookfang continued on his little rampage.

"Snotlout…" Hiccup said annoyed.

"I'm not the boss of him. He always does that when he gets angry."

That made Hiccup look to the angry Monstrous Nightmare, and she noticed the scorch marks he left behind.

"Or goes on a rampage… That's how I can explain the Great Hall! I've gotta tell my dad about this!" She climbed onto Toothless and they raced to the Hall where her father was overseeing the repairs.

 **000**

Hiccup was inside explaining to her dad about her discovery with the Monstrous Nightmare and the lack of scorch marks while Toothless was outside sleeping. He would have followed her in if it wasn't for the fact that he should have been locked in the academy by now. He was sleeping peacefully by the doors when he heard something, having a feeling that something was wrong. A dragons' sixth sense was rarely ever wrong, and so he went to investigate.

It led him to the armory, and when he arrived the door swung open.

 **"That's odd…"**

Carefully, he went inside. He looked around a little and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. He was about to turn back, when he heard something coming from the back of the building. He saw the window open, and walked up to it, climbing a little to peak out. That's when he smelled it.

 **"Fire!"**

A fuse was set and when the fire reached whatever was inside the barrel, an explosion was set off. Toothless narrowly escaped in time, but the armory was on fire, being destroyed. Vikings ran to put it out as he looked on from the sidelines.

"The Armory! Grab some buckets!" Stoick yelled and Hiccup ran to help as well.

The Vikings all dumped bucket after bucket onto the building when Stoick noticed him. "Toothless?"

"It was him! He set the armory on fire!" a Viking claimed.

 **"What?!"** It wasn't him. How could they think that?

He saw Hiccup walk up with two buckets full of water in her hands and she stopped stunned, dropping the buckets. "Toothless?"

 **"Hiccup"** ,Toothless said as he went over to the stunned girl.

 **"Bud, what happened? You would** _ **never**_ **…"**

 **"I didn't. Hiccup, it wasn't me."**

Hiccup bent down speaking frantically. **"Then who? Did you see anyone? Was it Mildew?"** Toothless knew she'd been suspecting him ever since this whole thing started.

 **"No. I didn't see anyone. But I** _ **did**_ **hear someone."**

000

Hiccup couldn't believe this. Now Toothless was being framed! And it was the worst crime yet. The fire was finally out, but the armory was destroyed. And without weapons, her village was defenseless. And the worst part was everyone thought it was Toothless who did it.

"Every one of our weapons. Gone!" Her father said with anger.

"Prudence!" Gobber shouted with anguish at a sword bent and charred beyond repair. "My poor darling. I'm so sorry. You should have had a long blood-letting life."

"She didn't have to die Gobber. Hiccup's dragon left us utterly defenseless!" Mildew said causing Vikings to start muttering.

"Dad, you know Toothless wouldn't do this! I _know_ he didn't do this!" Hiccup objected trying to defend her brother.

"Sure, listen to your _dragon daughter_ , Stoick. That's what got us into this mess!" Mildew said as he circled around her and her father. He stopped behind her and whispered, "See what happens when you leave your dragon to wait outside?"

"What… did you say?"

The old man didn't answer her, instead ignoring the question and walking away. Her father sighed and turned to her. "These dragons have done too much damage. It's no longer safe to have them on Berk. I want them gone."

"What?" Hiccup said with horror.

"Finally!" Mildew cheered.

"Round them up and take them all to Dragon Island", he continued, then faced the villagers and shouted out, "By the end of the day tomorrow, there will be no more dragons on Berk!"

A few Vikings were happy, but others, typically the ones who had dragons of their own, were either shocked or upset.

"Oh, what a glorious day that will be", Mildew said, happier than anyone else. "Party at my house!"

"Dad, you can't do this. Toothless…"

"Destroyed the armory and left us with no weapons. The dragons are banished from the island. End of story."

Her eyes narrowed with anger at her father as he turned to walk away. He wasn't listening. Again. Well two could play at the stubborn game. "Then I'm banished too!" she exclaimed. There were a series of gasps at her statement, and her father turned back looking to have had enough.

"You're not banished. I said dragons. Not half dragons. You. Stay. Here. He", he pointed to Toothless who was watching them all. "Goes."

He turned away again, the argument over. There was nothing more she could say or do.

"Don't forget _girl_ , right after you drop off your _dragon_ you'll be fixing _my roof_ ", Mildew sneered at her, before leaving.

It was only her and her friends now. "This is wrong", Hiccup said at last.

"I know. It's horrible! It's the worst day of my life", Astrid said.

"No, Astrid. Something here doesn't add up."

"All I know is I'm losing my dragon", Fishlegs said sadly walking away.

"For now, yeah. Okay but I-I just need time to fix this."

"What are you talking about? It's over", Snotlout stated walking away as well.

"Forget it, it's over", Ruffnut repeated, following.

"Yeah, forget it", Tuffnut also repeated.

Her friends, one by one, walked away, hope lost.

000

The following morning was the worst one of all the teens' lives. Hiccup started by relocating all the wild dragons on the island to Dragon Island, followed by the trained ones that roamed the village or were part of households. Seeing the children have to part with their beloved friend — she refused to say pet — was heartbreaking for her, especially when they cried and their parents had to hold them back, but Hiccup had to do what her father and chief told her to. For now. She promised the families it wouldn't be forever; that she wouldn't rest until the dragons were home.

By late morning, the only remaining dragons left on the island were Toothless and her friends' dragons. A ship came with them as they flew their dragons to Dragon Island for the last time that day. When they landed on the rocky beach, it was time to say goodbye.

Astrid took Stormfly's saddle off and hugged the side of her face. "I'm gonna miss you", she told her.

 **"I'll miss you too."**

The twins hugged their own head first and then switched places hugging the other one in their own form of a goodbye. One with no words.

Aric only gently pet Shadowstar. "You'll be alright girl. It's gonna be okay." It wasn't exactly clear if he was talking to his dragon or himself.

Fishlegs was piling rocks for Meatlug, and once that was done he took her saddle off as well, talking to her on the verge of tears. "Okay Meatlug, there's plenty of rocks if you get hungry. And don't eat any lime stone. You know it doesn't agree with you." He then left her, and Meatlug was so distraught that she fainted.

"Be strong buddy", Snotlout said as he hugged Hookfang.

 **"You too, kid."**

"I know you're gonna miss me."

A bird then came rushing by, stealing Hookfang's attention, and he ran after it momentarily forgetting Snotlout and the situation.

"Okay. He's crying! He's crying on the inside!"

Hiccup slowly removed Toothless' saddle, and once it was off, she stood from her kneeling position. "I'll be back for you. I promise", she said to him, and then began to walk away.

Toothless began to follow her. **"Hiccup…"**

"No, bud!" She turned around and raised her hand out to him. "You've gotta stay here and take care of the other dragons."

 **"I don't want you to go."**

 **"It's gonna be okay, Toothless. Trust me."**

Toothless stayed silent for a moment then he began to croon and coo **'love'** and **'trust'** to her. Then, he moved his head forward to meet her hand, just like their first day together in the cove. That's when Hiccup caved. She placed the saddle down kneeling to hug his head tightly, a small sob escaping.

After a few moments they finally broke apart, Hiccup wiping the few tears that escaped her eyes, and then she went to place the saddle under some rocks where it would be safe; a silent promise that she'd be back. Hiccup turned to walk away, and Toothless silently followed, but didn't have her turn back around. She slowly walked back to the ship, preparing to take the long journey home. Once she got onto the boat, they began to set sail, and the teens watched as the island slowly became smaller and smaller.

Aric came up to the mast Hiccup's hand was laying against, leaning on the other side, and she followed suit, leaning onto the mast like he did. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts but one always seemed to come back to her.

"You know there's something Mildew said that I can't stop thinking about. He-he said 'see what happens when you leave your dragon to wait outside'. He _knew_ Toothless wasn't with me just before the armory fire.

"So…" Aric said, not quite knowing where she was going.

"So… so he lives on the other side of the island. What was he doing in town? And how would he know where we were before the fire?!"

"You really think he set that fire?"

"I think he did all of it. And I think he did it so my dad would get rid of all the dragons."

Aric leaned back onto the mast in thought. "That's a serious accusation. How are you gonna prove it?"

"I have to repair his roof this afternoon. When I do, I'm gonna do more than just fixing his house."

000

"Ah, the dragon girl has come at last", Mildew said with fake enthusiasm as Hiccup walked up to his house with the tools needed to repair his roof. She didn't even spare him a glance. Hiccup simply spread her wings and with a leap and a few good flaps was onto the roof and getting ready to do the job.

"You know when you offered yourself to be banished I must say I was hoping you'd stay with your _precious_ dragon. That _island's_ where you _truly_ belong. A shame; ah, well, there's always next time."

Hiccup didn't answer, didn't even look up from her work. She knew the old man was just trying to get under her skin. Oh, it was working, but she didn't have to let him know that. The man finally left, and Hiccup was grateful. She didn't know how much more she could take. After a few minutes, and once Hiccup was sure Mildew wouldn't be back for a little while, she stopped hammering. She stood, spit out the nails she was holding in her mouth, and jumped down into Mildew's house.

She'd never been in the man's house before, and she could certainly say she was glad for it. The place wasn't exactly the most welcoming. It was dark, and most of the walls were barren spare some weapons, a mural of a man, she assumed must have been Mildew, defeating a Monstrous Nightmare, and four paintings of three ugly women and a sheep. She looked at them for a moment.

"Wife, wife, wife… hmmm…" She stopped at the sheep, which was no doubt Fungus. "Well Mildew defiantly has a type."

She shuddered, and then looked around some more stumbling onto a pot. She opened the lid wondering if Mildew would hide something in there, but regretted it when the smell entered her nostrils. It was a foul smell leaving her gagging as she quickly placed the lid back on. She wasn't sure what was in there, but knew for certain it wasn't what she was looking for.

She turned to see a curtain, and peeking out was a Zippleback foot. She moved the curtain away to find a small closet-like area with boots shaped to be like Zippleback feet.

"What the…?" She asked as she picked up the Zippleback shaped boot. Then she saw a staff with a claw attached. The claw was the same shape as a Monstrous Nightmare. Now, it made sense. The tracks were shallow because Mildew was the one who made them. There were claw marks in the Hall but there weren't any scorch marks or food missing because Mildew neglected those factors as well.

She suddenly heard footsteps and the click of a staff outside and she froze with fear of being caught for a moment. Then the door began to jiggle. Hiccup quickly placed the boots and staff back where they were and, just in the nick of time, she leaped up, flying back onto the roof.

"I'm home ladies!" Mildew called out to the portraits as he barged through the door. "Huh, what's that you say…? Nothing? Perfect."

Mildew then noticed the Zibbleback feet poking out from the curtain. He hummed in thought and Hiccup thought she might have been caught. She reared her head back away from the hole hoping that even if he looked up, he wouldn't see her watching. She couldn't let him know that she'd been snooping and that she knew he framed the dragons. If he did, there was no telling what he might do, or tell her father. He pulled the curtain back, as if expecting to find the perpetrator there, but when he didn't he shrugged it off, and Hiccup felt much better at the lack of suspicion now.

Mildew picked up the boots and staff, smiling. "Ah, these served us well didn't they Fungus."

His sheep baahed in response.

"Shame we have to get rid of them."

He started to move towards the door, and then to the cliff near his house. He stopped at the cliff and Hiccup watched as he threw the only evidence she had against him into the sea. At that moment she vowed she would find that evidence; it was either that, or she would have to somehow prove the dragons' innocence another way.

000

 _... So there you have it. Now all the dragons are banished, and it seems as if I'm the only one who cares enough to try and change that. But, you know what, there's an old Viking saying. When your friends are roasting on the spit you're the one who feels the fire. Mildew may have fooled everyone into thinking dragons are too wild to live in peace with us, but he's wrong. And no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes, I'm going to prove it. I am going to prove what that retched man did. And I am going to make sure my brother comes home… one way or another._


	5. Alvin and the Outcasts

_**Alvin and the Outcasts**_

It was a semi-peaceful night in Berk. The children were finally asleep and the adults soon after. All was quiet and not a single Viking stirred. All, except one girl with two black wings and the mindset of taking off again. Hiccup was asleep for no more than a few hours when her eyes suddenly snapped open. She looked out, and seeing it was the middle of the night she quickly and quietly got up, gathered a few things into her satchel, such as her notebook and an apple, and climbed out the window above her bed flying in the direction of Dragon Island.

000

 _It's been about three days since Toothless and the dragons were forced to leave. That hasn't stopped me from seeing them though. Every night since the day the dragons were sent to Dragon Island I've been putting my wings to good use. I always return before my father wakes up, so I don't know if he's noticed. But to be honest, I could care less if he noticed. He can't possibly expect me to just abandon my best friend. I still haven't given up on finding that evidence against Mildew either. I've been searching relentlessly with no sight of a Zippleback boot, or the Nightmare claw. No matter how many times I've dived under where I saw Mildew toss them, or searched the shores, I just haven't had any luck. When I get back to Berk today, I'm going to try looking again on the nearest beach to where Mildew threw them. And I think I'll also take the gang. After all, seven pairs of eyes are better than one._

000

Just as Hiccup had planned to do, she gathered up her friends and took them to the beach to search for the evidence. And, as per usual, Snotlout wasn't much help.

"Argh! We've been here for _hours_!" Snotlout groaned.

"We've been here for ten minutes, and you've done nothing but build… _that_ ", Hiccup retorted gesturing to the structure Snotlout built from rocks and twigs.

" _That_ is Snotlout Manner, and all I need now is a queen", he said hinting at Astrid being the queen.

"Ugh", Astrid simply groaned.

"Aaarrrgh!" they suddenly heard Tuffnut shout, and Snotlout turned around to see Tuffnut stomping on his creation.

"What-what are you doing!?"

"Storming the castle."

"Come on, guys! I'm telling you, Mildew framed our dragons! I saw dragon feet in Mildew's house and I saw him throw them into the ocean!" Hiccup exclaimed trying to get everyone focused.

"I don't mean to be Norbert the Negative, but the ocean is really, really vast", Fishlegs tentatively said.

"Yeah", Aric agreed. "Hiccup, our chances at finding those feet are about as good as Snotlout and Astrid—"

"Don't go there", Astrid interrupted threateningly.

"Going nowhere", he said quickly, raising his hands in surrender.

"Look, Fishlegs is right. Even if Mildew did throw them in the ocean they're not just gonna wash up on shore here", she continued.

"I found it!" Snotlout then shouted.

"Great!" Hiccup cheered, and began to head towards Snotlout wanting to grab those feet and race to her father. "Ehm… you were saying", she smugly said to Astrid.

That smug smile quickly vanished though as Snotlout turned with a bludgeon in his hand.

"I haven't seen this since I was a baby", he said. He pounded his head with it, before stating, "You never forget your first bludgeon."

She sighed exasperatedly. "Just keep looking."

000

In the forge, Gobber was busy remaking all the weapons they had lost. It was a painfully slow process, and it would be weeks before they had all that they lost returned.

"Five down, three hundred forty to go", Gobber said as he finished another ax.

"Can't you do that any faster? Until you restock our weapons, we're completely defenseless", Stoick said as Gobber went to sharpen the ax.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before sending the dragons away."

"You know I had no choice. They destroyed the armory."

"Correction. _Toothless_ destroyed the armory. Still can't believe that dragon would do such a thing."

"I know."

"Maybe you should revoke the banishment, Stoick, just until these weapons are done?"

"Not a chance."

"This would be a bad time to get attacked."

"I know, Gobber."

"Not that there's ever a good time, but this would be particularly bad."

"I _know_ , Gobber."

"Especially by Alvin. The Treacherous. Our oldest and most feared enemy. Who'd kill us all to take Berk for his own."

"I got it, Gobber!" Stoick shouted with frustration. "Alvin the Treacherous", he then said more to himself than Gobber.

000

On Outcast Island was where Alvin the Treacherous resided, the Chief of the Outcasts and number one enemy to Berk. He was too preoccupied with dragons, however, to take his vengeance on Berk, and in turn Stoick. As the Berkians were left defenseless Alvin and his Outcasts were dealing with another attack from the dragons that infected their island. Fire rained everywhere and it was total chaos.

"Alvin they're coming back!" Savage, Alvin's second in command, yelled.

Utterly frustrated with his men, Alvin decided to take matters into his own hands. "Out of me way!" he shouted as he harshly shoved a man, trying to lift a catapult, aside. "You can't find good marauders anywhere these days!" He lifted the catapult upright, ready to fire once more. After loading a boulder, the catapult was shot hitting a Monstrous Nightmare head on.

"Alvin, they're too many of them! We need to get inside!" Savage yelled over the chaos once more.

Alvin conceded and stormed into a room carved from a mountain. The door was locked by Savage, and Alvin went to proceed with his plans to end their little dragon problem once and for all.

"Oh, I've had it with these dragons! Is the ship ready?"

"We still have a little more work to do", Savage answered.

"That's not my problem, is it?!" Alvin dismissed. "We sail for Berk immediately. We'll land here. Under the cover of night", he continued, pointing to a spot on his map.

"Why aren't we taking the whole army?"

"We're not there to fight Stoick. We're there for one man: The Dragon Conqueror."

"Oh, and you'll have him. We here he's ten feet tall, with great black wings, and the strength of a dozen men."

"Well", Alvin laughed, "He shouldn't be too hard to find then, should he?"

000

"Mildew framed our dragons!" Hiccup said furiously as she stormed into the house. She had had just about enough of waiting, and needed to convince her father of Mildew's horrid actions evidence or no.

"And what makes you say that?" he asked, turning from his conversation with Gobber.

"Because I saw a pair of Zippleback feet in Mildew's house! He must have used them to make the foot prints of the dragon who _supposedly_ stole the boots."

"Well then, let's go have a look at them", her father said calmly.

"Yeah, uh, there's gonna be a problem with that. I… also… saw him… throw them into the… ocean", Hiccup finished in a mutter of embarrassment and defeat.

"I know you're upset about the dragons dear, but you're going to need _evidence_ to accuse a man of high treason."

Hiccup knew that would be his answer, but she still looked down sadly, as well as in thought of what to do next. She left the house to think, and while on her walk she ran into Aric.

"I guess the meeting with your dad didn't go so well?" the boy asked kindly as he walked up to her.

"Went about as well as you'd expect."

"Come on." He motioned for her to follow, and they walked together in silence, occasionally talking in small talk from time to time until evening came, and Hiccup smiled a little for it. Aric was kind enough to give her some space so she could process everything, but she also wasn't alone, and she appreciated it more then he could know.

"We need to prove Mildew did it. We have to if we ever want to see our dragons again", Hiccup said at last as they came up to a cliff.

"I just hope they're okay", Aric said worriedly.

"Don't worry, they're alright. They're sad, and miss home, but they're okay", Hiccup tried to reassure, although her eyes still down cast.

As Hiccup reassured him, Aric spotted something over her shoulder. He walked past her and pointed out to a boat.

"Why would one of our ships be anchoring there?"

Hiccup walked up, pulling out her spy glass to get a closer look. When she saw the ship clearly, her heart nearly skipped a beat.

"That's _not_ one of our ships. I've got to tell dad! Come on!"

Now, she really wished she had Toothless.

000

"Ah, it's good to be back on the shores of Berk", Alvin said as he stepped onto shore.

"Good for you. Not so good for them", Savage laughed.

"Let's find this Dragon Conqueror!"

Alvin moved out, heading straight for the village with his men following, determined to capture the fabled man he had heard so much about.

000

After Hiccup told her father about the Outcast ship, he had all the villagers gather in the Great Hall. They were all in a panic, and awaiting instruction on what they would do. Stoick had just sent out a scout to see what exactly they were up against, and while he waited, he tried his best to keep everyone's heads on.

"This is no time to panic!" the chief called. "That's exactly what the Outcasts are counting on!"

"Stoick!" his scout said running in and out of breath.

"Sven, did you get a count?"

"I saw thirty men at least; all armed to the teeth", Sven reported.

"Without any weapons we'll never be able to fight them head on", Gobber said.

"No weapons! And Outcasts on our shores! All thanks to your _girl_ and _her_ dragons!" Mildew shouted out, pointing towards Hiccup, once again unjustly pinning blame on her.

"I don't have time for this right now, Mildew", her father reprimanded. "Mulch! You and Bucket gather up the elders and the children. Go to the beach; you'll be safe in the caves there."

"We can help fight", Astrid butted in. "We've been trained as warriors."

"She may have been trained, but I was born a warrior", Snotlout arrogantly added in.

"Take this", Stoick said as he held out a hatchet. Snotlout expected him to be handed the weapon, but was sorely mistaken when it was in fact handed to Astrid. "It was Alvin's. But go with the others. You can help protect them", Stoick continued.

"Let me go get the dragons", Hiccup insisted to her father. "At least if we have them dad, we can defend ourselves."

"Go", her father sighed. "But be careful; you don't know what Alvin is capable of."

Hiccup gave him a determined nod, and left the Great Hall to fly off and get their dragons. She took off, but as she began to fly away from the island, she was stopped by Fishlegs' screams. She turned, trying to find where they were coming from and saw the boy on a cliff, in the clutches of Alvin the Treacherous. The man cringed and threw Fishlegs off the cliff. Hiccup gasped, and with all her might dived to catch him. It was close but she made it, and swiftly flew out of the sight of Alvin as well.

"Hiccup?" Fishlegs shouted with surprise as he was caught.

Not even a second after they landed back on the island, Hiccup heard people coming and pushed Fishlegs into some bushes nearby to hide. As they hid from the passing Outcasts, Fishlegs was shaking with terror.

"Fishlegs, it's alright. You're safe."

"Alvin's looking for you", he suddenly said. "He's looking for The Dragon Conqueror."

Hiccup's eyes widened a little and then narrowed in thought. She knew the man wouldn't stop until he found what he wanted. He had almost killed Fishlegs to get to her; if she hadn't been there, he would have fallen to the embrace of the icy waves. She decided to find and follow Alvin, and as they did she saw the Outcast Chief stumble across the remains of the armory, laughing at their disadvantage, and then strolled up to her house. She and Fishlegs spied from the side of the house as she saw Alvin kick the door down.

"Stoick! Show your face!" he commanded. Of course, he saw nothing but an empty house. "The old coward's turned and run."

"I saw fresh tracks leading into the forest. And I heard reports of a big guy with a bucket on his head heading down to the beach", one of Alvin's men reported.

"Bucket", Hiccup quietly gasped.

"We'll split up. You four, go into the woods", Alvin instructed.

"Where are we going?" Another man asked.

"We'll go to the beach. How many hostages do you think a Dragon Conqueror is worth?"

"Seven. No, wait-wait, eight!"

It was just as she feared. Hiccup turned to Fishlegs, her eyes searching; mind racing to find a solution.

"What do we do now?" Fishlegs whispered.

"Go to the woods, and warn my father. I need to get ahead of Alvin, and warn Mulch and the others", Hiccup replied.

000

"When they come looking for us in the forest, they'll have to come through here", Gobber said as they prepared to fight off the Outcasts in their forests.

"Alright, what do we have?" Stoick asked.

"Two frying pans, a rolling pin, and a kitchen knife."

"And what are we going to do when we find Alvin? Bake him a cake?!"

"Eh, pie would be nice too. Who doesn't like pie?" Gobber threw the kitchen knife into a nearby tree, splitting it completely in two. " _That_ could be useful."

000

Hiccup was making her way to the beach stealthily through the forest as not to get spotted by Alvin who was close by.

"Ugh, Bucket, you had one job. Bring up the rear", she could hear Mulch say. If only she could get to them without being spotted by the Outcasts.

"But the little girl! You should have seen the look on her face, big blue eyes with the tears welling up", Bucket replied.

"Ugh, oh…" Mulch said as he face palmed. "Your bucket's hard but your heart is soft. Come on, come on."

They only made it a couple of steps before the Outcasts and Alvin caught them, spears pointed at the men to keep them at bay as Alvin came up from behind.

"Uh-oh", Mulch said as he turned to come face to face with Alvin.

"You made it _easy_ for us Bucket. It's hard to miss a _halfwit_. And his lamb", Alvin menacingly said.

Hiccup took the opportunity of distraction to move forward a little to another tree she could hide behind. She was about to move again, when the Outcasts began to move forward. She went out of sight just in time, and once they passed, she stared ahead at them with eyes narrowed. If she couldn't get to the others before Alvin, she might have no choice but to give herself up. But then her mind lit up with an idea. One that could fix everything. If it came down to the fact that she had to give herself up, she would use it to her advantage.

000

Stoick and his group of warriors were doing well in defending their home despite the lack of weapons. They used their knowledge of the forest against the invaders and were able to defeat the Outcasts with relative ease.

Stoick heard something rustling in the bushes, and when he saw the figure he ran into attack. Stoick tackled them and was ready to blow his first punch when the familiar squeal of a boy caught his attention.

"Stoick! No!" Fishlegs screamed.

His eyes widened slightly in recognition. "For the love of Thor, Fishlegs, I could've killed you!"

"Thank you, for not killing me."

"What are you doing here?"

"Alvin the Treacherous grabbed me. He looked _really_ Treacherous."

"I _know_ they're hear, Fishlegs."

"Yeah. They're here for Hiccup!"

"Hiccup?" Stoick said with shock and fear.

000

"For those of you who haven't figured it out, I am the one and only Alvin the Treacherous. And let me be _clear_ , that name was _earned_ ", Alvin sneered at his captives.

"Alvin? Pft… How did he earn that?" Tuffnut snickered.

Aric couldn't believe they'd gotten caught. Alvin was standing on some rocks like a stage acting all high and mighty, like he'd beaten them for sure. Well, he had another thing coming.

"Your leader has abandoned ya", Alvin continued. "But Stoick doesn't concern me. I'm not here for him. I want the Dragon Conqueror."

"Say good bye to Hiccup", Mildew said to him from behind. "Alvin—!"

Aric promptly elbowed him in the face, knocking the man out, and then catching him before Alvin turned to the boy with a questioning look.

"Our grandfather's frail. He needs his nap", Astrid sweetly said, causing Alvin to move on and ignore them.

"Well like I said…" As soon as Alvin was turned, Aric and Astrid's eyes turned cold and he harshly dropped the old man.

"Tell me who the Dragon Conqueror is and you can all go free", Alvin finished.

"Conqueror? Come on!" Snotlout snickered. "I'll show Alvin who's a conqueror." He ran up the rocks ready to bash the man with his bludgeon from behind, but Alvin turned around, and Snotlout froze. "For you, sir", he said handing the Outcast chief his weapon.

"Well, you'd better check your trousers, son. I think you've soiled yourself."

Aric saw the opportunity and turned to his sister who nodded in agreement. With all her might, she threw the hatchet Stoick had given her. But, Alvin saw it coming and he caught it in midair.

"Will you look at that! My old hatchet! I was wondering when I'd get that back." A solider grabbed Astrid and threw her up to face the man. He circled her like a vulture, making Aric have to fight the urge to go up there and foolishly try attacking the man. "Trying to kill Alvin the Treacherous? Ooh hoo, you're not as smart as you look", he taunted. "Tell me, who's your Dragon Conqueror, eh?" He grabbed her braid and pulled hard causing her to make a pained sound. "Tell me!"

"Leave her alone!" Hiccup demanded, coming out from behind a stone.

"Hiccup!" Astrid called. "What are you doing?"

Hiccup hopped down from her perch, and said with total confidence, "I'm the Dragon Conqueror."

There was only silence for a good few minutes. At first, Alvin only stared at her. His eyes widened at the sight of her, obviously not expecting to see Stoick's girl having dragon scales, and the Berkians were simply stunned by what she said. Then, Alvin began to laugh at her, followed by some of his men.

"You? Stoick's little embarrassment?" he said eyeing her up and down, as if to say she was not only a runt but a freak.

It didn't faze Hiccup, however. She stood tall and confident. " _I_ drove the dragons from Berk. Look around, you don't see any on this island do ya?"

Hiccup looked to Astrid to follow along, and she brilliantly did. "It's true! All the dragons are afraid of her! She even conquered a _Night Fury_!"

"You're bluffing", Alvin said leering over Hiccup.

"Am I?" she questioned, taking a few steps back, but not losing the confident and defiant look on her face. "Well, there's only one way to find out. Take me to Dragon Island."

For a moment there was silence once more. Then, Alvin stood straight and motioned for his men to grab her. They did as ordered, taking Hiccup's arms and leading her away, and Hiccup didn't put up any fight, except for when they initially grabbed her. Alvin left while leaving some of his men to hold the hostages in place, and Aric looked on with worry as Hiccup was taken to one of Alvin's ships.

"Hiccup, what are you doing?" he whispered to himself.

It wasn't too long before Stoick found them, taking out all the Outcast soldiers that were left behind.

"Where's Alvin!" Stoick demanded as he held a man down, trapped under his foot. The man spit at him, and Stoick was anything but pleased. He was about to beat the man to a pulp, when Aric intervened.

"Alvin took Hiccup!"

"What?" his chief said with horror.

"She gave herself up! They're on their way to Dragon Island!"

000

Hiccup was unnecessarily and forcefully shoved onto the Outcasts' ship followed by being held at the back behind two spears crossed to keep her in place. They sailed out soon after heading to the island where Hiccup knew this battle would end. Hiccup kept her expression neutral and determined, not letting Alvin see any trace of fear or doubt. As the sun rose, and they neared Dragon Island, Alvin arrogantly strutted up to her.

"I'm sure your father's told you plenty about your island's most feared enemy", he said as if proud to be so.

"Wh-who's that? Oh right, uh, you. No. Not so much." It wasn't a total lie. Her father had really only told her the basics. Outcast chief, enemy, and stay away. She knew where the island was and what their ships looked like, but knew nothing of the people, and very little about the chief himself beyond the fact that he used to be a Berkian.

"Really? Not a word?" Alvin spoke shocked.

"Nope."

"Nothing?"

"Uh-uh."

"Nothing about Alvin?"

"Nope", she replied once more now looking at her finger nails to appear board. Alvin growled at that, and Hiccup absolutely loved how she was getting under the man's skin. It was a feeling she had never quite felt before, but she defiantly liked it.

"Look, Al", she said with no respect for the man in any way. She pushed the spears that caged her away and strolled up to him. "All I care about is that if I do what I say, you will leave the people of Berk in peace."

"On me word, dear."

She highly doubted his word was any good.

000

"When we get there, we'll lay down cover fire with these catapults!" Stoick informed as they made their way to the island. "Aric, you get your dragons."

"No!" Snotlout interrupted. "Save your cover fire for the others, sir. I can handle myself." He leaned onto the leaver, launching the catapult and the boulder the twins had just loaded in. Stoick only sighed.

"I'll fire extra rounds to cover that one", Gobber said.

"Sir, we'd like to personally volunteer to kick Alvin's butt", Tuffnut said to the chief, and he and his twin ready for a fight.

"This isn't about Alvin", Stoick responded. "It's about Hiccup. We're here to bring her home." _'Safe'_

000

Hiccup and her 'escorts' had arrived at the island by the afternoon. Alvin stood behind her, prompting her to walk forward with a sword unsheathed and to her back. The man would even push her forward with it just showing his impatience. _'Does he really want me to beat him that badly?'_

He did it once more to which Hiccup was becoming annoyed. "Hey, is the sword really necessary?"

 **"Hiccup? Is that you?"**

Hiccup saw Alvin's eyes widen, and she turned to the sound of her best friend, instantly and uncontrollably smiling at the sight of him.

"Odin's ghost." Alvin said in shock. "Is that a—?"

"Night Fury. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself." _'Or offspring of playfulness and cuddles. Whichever you prefer.'_

"Ah, stop!" she then screamed hearing the men behind her load their crossbows. They slightly lowered their weapons in response to the outburst.

 **"What are you doing?"**

"Eh… it will only make him angrier", Hiccup continued, saving her act, and ignoring her dragon's question.

 **"Is this some new game, Hiccup?"**

"Watch and learn."

"By all means, proceed", Alvin said. She did so, and began to walk towards her dragon. "I hope you're not squeamish. You're about to see a dragon eat a girl", he then laughed to his men.

As Hiccup strolled slowly to Toothless, the dragon couldn't take it anymore, and in his excitement pounced on her, and licked her face, causing the Outcasts to make sound of surprise and fear readying their weapons once more.

 **"Hiccup! I was so worried when you didn't come last night! Who are these humans? What took you so long?"**

Hiccup quietly giggled a little and spoke softly. **"I missed you too, bud. But right now, just follow my lead."**

She got up, and they moved to where Hiccup had left the saddle. Toothless was playfully advancing on her, and Hiccup was batting in the same fashion as if trying to overpower him.

"You cannot defeat me! You dirty dragon!"

They made it to the saddle, and as Hiccup bent to pick it up, Toothless blocked them from the sight of the strangers with his wing.

"I am the Dragon Conqueror!" Hiccup continued to shout.

 **"Dragon Conqueror?"**

 **"I'll tell you later"** , she quietly responded. She strapped the saddle on and prepared the tail fin, opening it up a little as a result.

"Eh, what are you doing with that dragon?!" Alvin questioned, and he began to advance. But it was too late for him to catch on. Hiccup was already on Toothless, and the dragon slowly turned to reveal what she was really doing.

"By the way, it's not really Dragon Conqueror. It's Dragon Trainer. Now."

Toothless leaped into the air, and as Alvin swung his sword at them, he missed by a mile. He looked out to them as they flew stunned.

"Great thunder of Thor. She _is_ the Dragon Conqueror! Fire!"

"Look out!" Hiccup shouted as catapults were being launched. Toothless was barely able to avoid all of them, and due to his erratic movements, they shortly lost control in the air.

"What are you waiting for?! Shoot her down!" he commanded, followed by, "Fire!"

At his word three arrows were shot towards Hiccup and Toothless. They couldn't avoid them.

000

Aric and the other riders had all just gotten their dragons when they heard Toothless and Hiccup. As Aric got into the sky with Shadowstar he saw Hiccup and Toothless out of control, and crossbows being aimed straight for them.

"Come on girl!" he told Shadowstar and she flew as fast as she could to get to them. "Now!" She fired a plasma blast at the oncoming arrows, and soon after the duo was safe, they regained control, and regrouped.

"Oh, what took you so long?" Hiccup asked.

"Why? Did you miss me?" Aric responded.

She didn't get to answer.

"Hiccup!" Snotlout called, and at the warning they dodged the fast coming boulders.

"We've got to get in closer!" Hiccup called.

"Aim at their catapults! If we knock them out the dragons can finish off the ship!" Stoick ordered on his ship. "Fire!"

The catapults were launched and boulders came flying over to the Outcasts' ship.

"Move off shore!" Alvin ordered.

"Here's our chance. Come on!" Hiccup called out. They all swooped in, but before any damage could be done a boulder came hurdling right at Astrid and Stormfly. Stormfly dodged it by rolling over, but in the process Astrid was thrown off. She fell onto Alvin's ship, first hitting a line of rope, cutting off her scream, then straight into the mast, and down on deck where she became trapped under a box.

"ASTRID!" Aric yelled in fear.

She got out from under the box, and went over to the side of the ship, waving her arms in the air for help.

"ARIC!" She yelled back.

He couldn't get to her in time.

"Welcome aboard Astrid", Alvin said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her to him as his new hostage. "Don't miss this time!" he demanded to his men.

They readied their crossbows, and fired at Aric and Shadowstar.

"Look out!" Hiccup screamed coming towards him and having him follow her lead, swerving out of the way. They circled back around and joined the other riders once more.

"Hold your fire! He's got Astrid", Hiccup informed them.

Snotlout paid no mind, firing a stream of fire down onto the ship, hitting the water in front of the ship though.

"What are you doing?!"

"I heard you say fire!"

"I said _Hold_ your fire!"

"See, you said it again!"

"No! He's right!" Stoick called from his ship.

"Thank you!" Snotlout said.

"Fire again, Hiccup! All of you!"

Hiccup looked down to the Outcast ship trying to figure out what her father was getting at, when she saw the fog Snotlout had created, and it hit her.

"Everyone, fire into the water!" she ordered.

One by one, each pair fired into the water creating just enough steam to block off the Outcasts' sight. The Outcasts were confused, and in the dark, as Hiccup and Toothless circled their ship.

"Fire!" Alvin shouted.

"At what?!" one of his men countered.

"Everything!"

They did as told, but missed every time not knowing where she was. It was as if Toothless' sounds were coming from all around them. Alvin then spotted a dragon's head and he threw his sword at it. It plunged into the dragon's snout but didn't stop it. Instead, the dragon turned out to be the figure head of a ship plowing itself right into the side of their own. The jolt caused the Outcasts to stumble, and Alvin's grip loosened on Astrid. Quickly, she grabbed a broom nearby and began hitting him first in the head and then in the stomach. She ran off, and Alvin was about to go after her, when Toothless roared causing him to turn around and see Hiccup and Toothless coming straight towards him. They plowed into him, knocking him down, and then circled around to grab Astrid.

"Astrid, hop on!" she said, just before the girl hopped onto a catapult and then into Toothless' claws where they took her back to Stormfly.

000

Stoick hated Alvin, this everyone knew. But the man taking his daughter had sparked an even greater hatred with in him. He dropped onto Alvin's ship, and just as the man turned to face him, he placed a well-deserved punch to his face, knocking him down.

"You're a coward taking my daughter."

"I take what I want! You know that, Stoick!" Alvin reared his fist back to punch back, but it never landed. Stoick caught the fist with his hand.

"Not this time", Stoick said as he went to make another blow only for Alvin to catch his fist as well.

000

As her father fought Alvin, all Hiccup and her friends could do was watch. Hiccup had only ever really seen her father battle dragons, not people. And to see him fight with a man that he was also pretty evenly matched with in strength and size was pretty incredible. Some of her friends even awed at the sight. And the fact that he was doing it all for her made Hiccup smile, even if just a little. Her smile quickly vanished, however, when Alvin began swinging an anchor towards her father. Her dad was nearly skewered multiple times. Alvin then made the grave mistake of swinging the rope without thought, only anger, and the anchor got caught on the figure head of his ship. Stoick used the opportunity to take the rope and wrap it around Alvin's hands, tying him to the anchor. He punched Alvin one last time before the figure head gave out from the previous blows it had received, and took Alvin with him sinking in the ocean. Her dad climbed back onto his boat, sailing a way a bit when he called up to her.

"Now, Hiccup! Burn the ship!"

"Here we go guys! Hit them with everything you got!" she said.

The Outcasts all abandoned ship as the riders dived towards it, and then fired setting the ship a blaze. It was all over, and Hiccup went to her father not only to apologize but also to say she told him so. After all, she did have at least some right to gloat.

"Hiccup, what were you thinking?" her father asked with concern.

' _Perhaps now isn't the time'_ she thought. She thought for a moment on how to answer. Everything had happened so fast she wasn't exactly sure what she was thinking. "I was thinking…" she began, "All I needed to do was to get to Toothless. And together, we'd be able to make things right."

It seemed to be a good enough answer because he didn't press any further. Instead, they headed home. Hiccup sent out a call to all the dragons that belonged on Berk, and they _all_ headed home.

000

Alvin wasn't exactly sure how he made it out alive, but somehow he'd untangled himself from the rope of the anchor, clambering back onto shore. He stood and began to laugh maniacally, his men looking to him wondering if he'd gone insane.

"They ride dragons", he finally said. "We get that girl, and we'll ride dragons!"

This time they all laughed. Oh, they'd get that girl, and when they did, she'd teach them everything she knew. And then, they'd use that knowledge to destroy Berk. Stoick's little girl would be his own demise.

000

As the riders and all the dragons returned to Berk, people cheered for them, and families hugged and laughed at the return of their beloved dragon. Hiccup couldn't have been happier to see the sight.

"You hear that, bud? You're back home", she said as she pat Toothless' head.

As all the riders landed and Stoick got onto the docks, people then came down to greet and celebrate their return. All of theirs.

"What are you cheering about? Don't you remember what these beasts have done?" Mildew said trying to get everyone back onto his side.

"I do", Stoick said coming up to the old man, glaring. "They saved our lives."

Mildew was going to respond, but when he found nothing to say, decided against it. Stoick moved on, and Hiccup appeared from behind her father with a deep glare.

"And I may not be able to prove what you've done. But I will never forget it."

She was about to leave it at that when Mildew spoke up.

"It doesn't matter anyway. Soon your precious dragons will screw up again, and there I'll be girl, to show the _truth_ of dragons."

Hiccup sharply turned back around towards him, her glare only deepening, and a small growl escaping her.

"Oh _yes_ , go on and growl all you like, _demon_ , but there is nothing you can do."

Her irises slited, her anger and hatred for the man sky rocketing. He was going to do this over and over. Blame the dragons for every small, little thing they did, and there was nothing she could do to stop him.

"What are you going to do, Hiccup. Attack me? Please, do so. I know that beast of yours wants to. But the only thing it'll accomplish is prove once and for all that dragons are nothing more than mindless beasts. That not even the _heir_ can control herself; attacking an innocent man."

At that Hiccup's eyes widened, her irises returning to normal, and she forced herself to calm down. She hadn't meant to get so angry. There was just something about Mildew, every time he spoke, or looked down at her, that made her hate the man more and more. She used to fear him, but now, she only felt hatred. Nevertheless, she couldn't touch him. He was right. In everyone else's eyes he'd done nothing wrong, and if _she_ attacked him, or advanced in anyway, it would only diminish everything she'd gone through to get the dragons back. Besides, she didn't really want to attack him anyway. He wasn't worth it, and that wasn't the type of person she was. Instead, she now stood calm and confident, just as she had been with Alvin.

"You're right, Mildew. I can't touch you, and I can't prove what you've done. But that doesn't mean I'll give up. You can keep telling your lies and spinning the truth. You can go on and frame the dragons all you want. But it will never change who dragons really are. We will always prove to be more than what you say. As the saying goes: The _Truth_ will set us free."

With that, she turned and walked away from Mildew feeling nothing but victorious.

000

 _It's funny how an attack by your greatest enemy can change things overnight. I set out to prove that our dragons would never hurt us. What they proved, is that they will always protect us._ _Mildew is never going to change. But for as long as he speaks against the dragons I will speak for them. Unless he gets rid of me, he's never getting rid of our dragons. And that old man would have to think twice before ever doing that._


	6. Portrait of Hiccup

**I forgot to mention this before, but did anyone else notice that in Alvin and the Outcasts they say 'Dragon Conqueror' A LOT . Cannot tell you how tired I was of writing it by the end.**

* * *

 ** _Portrait of Hiccup_**

 _Measuring up to a Viking father isn't easy. Especially when that Viking father is also the Chief of your village. There are plenty of expectations to be met, male or female. I don't exactly meet all those standards, and sometimes it feels as if my father cares more than he lets on. So, whenever I get the chance to prove myself, I jump on it. It's really what any heir would do..._

000

Hiccup and Stoick were in the Great Hall posing for their portrait to be painted. It was a tradition on Berk for every Chieftain and their heir, and it was one of the most joyful and special of occasions.

"Straighten up, hun; stand _tall_ and proud. This portrait's gonna hang in this hall forever", Stoick said.

"No good, no good, no good", Bucket muttered under his breath. He went to fix Hiccup and Stoick's pose, when he freaked out. "I CAN'T DO THIS!" he shouted. Bucket ran head first into one of the pillars near his shield that acted as a canvas, then said, "Okay I'm good", before going back to painting.

"I've never seen Bucket like this", Hiccup whispered.

"Well, when he lost half of his brain he suddenly became… an artist", Stoick answered.

"So, Bucket can actually paint?"

"Oh, he's the best! He's gonna do us proud, dear. This portrait is gonna take its place alongside _all_ the other Chiefs and their sons", he replied gesturing to all the portraits that hung on one of the walls of the Hall. " _That_ is the only picture of my father and me. It was a great day… And so is this."

Hiccup looked up to him with a smile, and then returned to her pose with her shield in hand.

"Chest out, dear."

She took a deep breath, straightening herself, and trying her best to do as he asked, but it made very little difference. "Yeah, this is out as it goes, dad."

"Ah. Very well, then."

Later that evening, Hiccup and her friends decided to go look at all the portraits, excited for the next day when Hiccup's would be up there as well. Some, of course, more than others.

"Look at all these great leaders", Aric said. "And tomorrow _your_ picture's gonna be hanging right next to them."

Snotlout snorted. "There goes the neighborhood."

"You are part of an elite group now, my friend. And one of the few who wasn't killed by their successor", Fishlegs followed.

"So far", Tuffnut laughed followed Ruffnut.

"It's gotta be a _huge_ honor. You'll be the first _daughter_ to be placed up here", Astrid added.

"I guess it is a pretty big deal. I mean, it's like… being a part of history", Hiccup said.

"History of goofballs", Snotlout said as he stopped at one of the paintings. "What a clown."

" _That_ is Hamish the First", Fishlegs explained. "He was our richest and most revered leader. And his son, Hamish the Second."

"I'm Hamish the First. Bow down before me and kiss my pointy shoes", Snotlout imitated in mockery.

The twins snickered to each other, then Tuffnut bent down on all fours behind Snotlout while Ruffnut approached Snotlout as if about to actually kiss his boots when she instead pushed him. He tripped over Tuffnut and into the painting of Hamish the First and his son causing it to fall on top of him, and the twins laughed at his pain.

"Look what you did to the Hamishes!" Fishlegs stressed. He kissed the picture and placed it back onto the wall. "Forgive us please."

As he was putting it back onto the wall a piece of paper flew out from behind the portrait, and Snotlout quickly snatched it.

"What's that? It's probably mine!" Tuffnut asked as he tried to take it.

"Looks like some sort of map… with _poetry_ ", Snotlout said.

"I'll take that", Gobber said snatching it from Snotlout's grasp.

"Hey, that's my poetry map!"

"All of these were supposed to be destroyed", Gobber continued more to himself then them.

"Why? What's so special about it?" Aric asked, while also trying to get a look at it.

"Men lost their limbs, their minds, and their lives trying to find that treasure", he answered.

"I've heard about this!" Fishlegs said amazed. "The treasure of Hamish the First. His son buried him with it and left this map. They say that the clues are so complicated that only a brilliant mind could decipher them."

"Stoick and _I_ even went after this treasure. We fought like badgers over the meaning of the clues. We were lucky to make it back with our lives… and our friendship intact. For your own good kids, forget you ever saw this." Gobber then left with the map, but Snotlout and the twins had no intention on forgetting.

000

The following morning it was time; the day Hiccup's portrait would be hung up in the Great Hall. She couldn't contain her excitement to see how the painting came out, and she was practically bouncing all morning.

Everyone had gathered into the Great Hall for the reveal; Stoick, Hiccup, and Bucket at the front. Bucket kept fusing with the cover, and Hiccup and Stoick couldn't stop smiling.

"Here it comes, dear. _This_ is our legacy."

Bucket removed the cover and Hiccup's smile instantly vanished into a look of horror. Everyone was praising the way she looked, awing at the way it turned out, but all Hiccup could think of was how horrible it was. In the portrait she was no hiccup for one; she looked like your average Viking woman, and then some. She had muscles and some girth giving her a more curved womanly shape. Her pose wasn't even hers. It was strong and warrior-like, her hands on her hips with confidence. _'Oh man, I actually have hips'_. Not only that, but she was completely human too; not one scale on the stranger in front of her eyes. The only things that remotely resembled her were her cloths and hair.

' _At least he left those the same'_ , she sarcastically thought.

She had only recently gotten comfortable in her own scales; she had finally embraced who she was in all regards, and they wanted to take that all away.

"Hey Bucket", Hiccup asked, "Why am I so… like _that_?"

"Why is the sky blue? Why do I have a bucket on me head? We'll never know the answers", he answered pulling her close.

"Oh, you did a brilliant job Bucket! Don't you think so, hun?" her father asked.

"But it's not me", she said with sad eyes.

"Sure it is! It's you but… you know, _bigger_. _Stronger_... _Human_."

"Now that's the daughter of a chief!" Mulch gushed coming up.

"You see what I mean?"

As people came up to awe, congratulate, or praise the work, Hiccup's mind went into panic. She had at least expected this from the village, but her father? After everything he still saw her as a hiccup? An accident? People kept coming to her father and Bucket in praise and it only made things worse. It was as if they all wanted to erase who she was from history. As if they wanted people to remember her by what her village wanted her to be and not who or what she truly was. She thought it was all in the past, but it seemed nothing had truly changed. With all these horrid thoughts Hiccup felt as if she couldn't breathe. She caved into herself, backing away slightly. She took one more look at the painting and then walked out of the Hall needing to take air. She needed to find Toothless and go flying. Flying with him always made her feel better; it helped to clear her head. And right now, that's exactly what she needed.

"It's unbelievable, bud. My father likes that painting better than the real me! I mean, even my name! You know its Viking tradition to call the runt of a litter a hiccup?!" she said as they flew.

 **"I thought it meant 'mistake'?"**

"That too", she dead panned. "But you're missing the point!"

 **"You're over reacting. It couldn't have been that bad."**

"You should have seen it. It was like looking at a stranger! She was all big and strong. Not a scale in sight. He even gave me ears. Ears! Like, the human ones…? I _used_ to wish for those, but that was when things were different. I guess I just thought…" She sighed, unable to come up with the right words. "What do I have to do to get my father to accept me?"

 **"He does accept you… Now stop worrying like a frightened hatchling and calm down."**

Hiccup sighed once more, and then spotted Astrid and Aric walking up to a very nervous Fishlegs outside the forge. It was rather suspicious and strange so she decided to go see what was going on.

"Wha-what are you doing out here?" she asked Fishlegs as she hopped off of Toothless.

"Nothing!" Fishlegs blurted out. "Coocoo… Coocoo!"

"Fishlegs, would you just quit it?" Aric said.

"Quit what?! Coocoo…!"

"Oh, gods… Okay, where are they, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked.

"Who? Who-hoo! Who-hoo!"

Hiccup groaned and walked around in the direction Fishlegs kept calling towards. When they rounded to the side of the forge they found the twins standing in front of a window, and Snotlout climbing out.

"What are you doing?!" she asked startling Snotlout and causing him to tumble through the window instead of climb out.

"I've got the map", Snotlout announced. "We're finding that treasure! And _you_ …" referring to Fishlegs, "…are a horrible lookout."

"You heard what Gobber said? The bravest warriors in history have died trying to find that treasure", Aric pointed out.

"And I'm next", he responded.

"Well, I personally would like to live to see my next birthday."

"I can't believe I'm saying this", Astrid said. "But, I'm with Snotlout. Just think, Aric? We'll be legends! They'll sing _songs_ about us."

"You'll be dead", her brother shot back. "Come on, guys, not even Stoick could find it."

"You're right. He couldn't… Give me that map!" Hiccup said snatching the map from her cousin.

"Finally, _someone_ is making sense", Aric said relieved.

"Alright. Where do we start?"

"Are you serious?!"

"Think about it, Aric. My father couldn't find that treasure. What— what would he say if _I_ did something that even _Stoick the Vast_ couldn't do? How great would that be?!"

"You're gonna go after this no matter what I say, right?"

She nodded.

"So, yeah, pretty great!"

"So, you're _not_ going to give me a hard time about this?" Hiccup asked slowly.

"Oh, I'll give you a hard time. Every step of the way", he said poking her.

"Alright. It looks like the map leads you to these spots", Hiccup said as she pointed at the pictures drawn on the map.

"And the riddles are clues to what we're supposed to find", Astrid added.

"Blah, blah, blah. Where's the treasure?" Snotlout impatiently said grabbing the map from Hiccup. "Clue number one: Where the land meets the sea, in the crook of the master's knee, that's where your search will be—gin."

"That doesn't sound so brilliant", Ruffnut said.

"Okay", Tuffnut said, "Think, think, think, think, think. Think, think… I forgot what I was thinking about."

Hiccup rolled her eyes at them, and she took the map back having a look at the riddle for herself. "The master's knee…? I've seen this before", she said remembering the portrait the map was left behind. She led everyone to the Great Hall where Hamish the First's portrait was and when she got a good look at it, knew she'd solved the riddle. "Look, right there, where his knee bends. It's pointing to this spot on the beach! That's where we start!"

They flew to the beach the painting depicted, and once there Hiccup read the next clue. "Listen up, you guys. From here you will see the seed that's been sewn. Look to where water turns to bone."

"Water turns to bone? Hamish isn't even trying to make sense", Snotlout said.

"No it— Water turns to bone… Water turns to bone… He must mean ice! The glacier!" Hiccup exclaimed as she looked to the large glacier that stood at the side of the cliff. These riddles weren't really as difficult as every claimed them to be.

000

"You had the map and you didn't destroy it?! What were you thinking?! Stoick reprimanded as he and Gobber sat in the Great Hall. As soon as Gobber told him of how the teens and the map were gone, Stoick was furious at him. How could Gobber be so stupid?

"I know, I'm an idiot. I thought maybe you and I could take another crack at finding that treasure."

"Gobber!"

"We turned back too early. So we lost a couple of toes."

"Ack! Come on, Gobber. We've got to find Hiccup and the others before they get themselves killed. Why would she _do_ something like this?" He'd have expected this from Snotlout but never her.

They went to Stoick's house to get his Thunderdrum Hiccup had recently helped him train, and they went off in search for them. They decided to head to where the first clue had led _them_ thinking the teens would still be there by the time they arrived. Little did they know Hiccup was already two steps ahead of them.

000

"There's something in there", Astrid said pointing at something in the ice as they stood in the glacier.

"I bet that guy saw it too", Fishlegs muttered seeing the frozen Viking trapped inside.

Hiccup ignored them, though, reading out the third clue. "Call on Magni, you'll go astray. Freya, though, will show the way."

"I get it", Snotlout said before bashing his head against the icy floor. It was the wrong choice, and Hiccup saw that by breaking the ice Snotlout had triggered a trap.

"No!" She pulled him away just in time before he was killed by a giant mace-like weapon. It just missed them, instead plowing into the ice, and then returned to its position on the wall. "We can't break the ice! That's what Magni means. He's the god of strength."

"That's right!" Fishlegs realized. "And Freya…"

" "Is the goddess of fire!" " they finished at the same time.

"And that's exactly what we'll use." Hiccup looked up to where Toothless was perched above them. "Toothless, you know what to do."

Toothless hopped down to her and then looked to Hiccup for a moment confused. **"What do I know to do… again?"**

"Light 'em up", she clarified.

With a slow concentrated fire, he melted the ice where Hiccup pointed. Soon, an object appeared and Toothless decided that was what Hiccup wanted him to melt out, so he stopped. She pet him in appreciation and went to go pick the object up. It was hot to the touch at first nearly burning her hand, but after a moment she quickly snatched it. The glacier then shook for some strange reason as if by taking it she'd taken the stability of the glacier as well.

"That's it?" Ruffnut asked. This is the treasure?"

"No. Can't be. But I bet this will lead us to it."

At that prospect Tuffnut took the object from her hands and held it up. "Take us to the treasure."

"Let me know if it answers", Aric said.

"This is just the first piece—", Hiccup explained when just then the glacier truly became unstable. The cavern shook, and the ice cracked beneath their feet.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup screamed.

The dragons all picked up their riders flying them out and away from the crumbling glacier.

000

Stoick and Gobber had arrived on the beach, but none of the riders were in sight. Their tracks, however, were.

"Night Fury prints. They were here… about an hour ago", Gobber concluded using a trick where he traced his hand over the prints and then smelled it.

"I'll never understand how you do that. What does an hour ago smell like, Gobber?"

"Not as strong as a half hour ago."

"Look", Stoick said noticing chunks of the glacier falling into the sea. "The kids must have found something up there."

"It was in the glacier. I knew it!"

"Oh you knew it did you?! Then how come we spent a _week_ digging in the sand!"

"That was your idea!"

"Hiccup got further in one afternoon, than we got in a month", Stoick said amazed.

"Yeah. Looks like the little hiccup's got the best of us. And _we_ think we're the _big strong_ _Vikings_."

"What are you saying, Gobber?"

"Stoick, it's the painting."

"Of course! She's trying to prove herself." At last he understood. Hiccup had always been trying to prove herself to him ever since she'd been a little girl. Whether through a new ability she'd discovered as a kid or by a new invention to help the village in some way, or herself in helping to fight the war. No matter what it was she did, it always boiled down to wanting his praise. He knew he was always hard on her, but he never thought how much it really must have affected her. The painting, no doubt, must have set her off again, and with the idea of doing something no other Viking had been able to, it's no wonder she jumped at the chance. Now, more than ever, he had to find his daughter.

000

The riders were lined up on a sea stack ready to take on the next clue for the next piece Hiccup claimed the first one must have been a part of. She took out the map, and began to read. "At the edge of the world amidst the raging sea, in the Serpents mouth lies another key."

"Serpents? I hate serpents. Those are reptiles right?" Tuffnut questioned.

"You do realize you're sitting on one?" his sister pointed out.

"Eugh!" he exclaimed recoiling in disgust.

"Hey, that cloud looks like a snake!" Snotlout said.

"Yeah, and in five minutes it'll look like a bunny", Aric responded.

"No, wa-wai-wait a minute!" Hiccup said. "He may be on to something. In the mouth… lies the key!" She looked up to a rock formation on the horizon, 'the edge of the world', and then compared it to the drawing on the map. It really did look like a snake. "Look!" she exclaimed. "Right there…! Toothless, let's go."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, a-are you crazy?!" Fishlegs said stopping her. "You can't take a Night Fury with a wingspan of forty five feet and expect him to hover at winds like that! You'll be killed!"

"Well… what's the wingspan of Meatlug?"

"Uh, eighteen feet? Why?" he asked cautiously afraid where this was going.

Hiccup only had a knowing smile spread across her face making Fishlegs' stomach drop. "Me and my big mouth…"

They tied a rope around Meatlug and then when Hiccup had a good grasp on it, Fishlegs told Meatlug to go. They flew against the harsh winds towards the rock snake with Hiccup dangling below keeping her wings tucked in tight and her grip on the rope firm.

"Keep her steady", Hiccup advised.

"Oh, Thor… Oh, Thor! Do we really need that treasure?! Isn't our friendship treasure enough?!" Fishlegs yelled frightened.

They stopped at the mouth where Hiccup could see the piece laying there. She tried swinging as far as possible to reach it with her hand, but it was no use. "I can't reach it!"

"Okay, we tried. 'A' for effort!"

"Hold on!"

This time Hiccup lowered herself on the rope, and instead of using her hand, she tried using her tail. It was longer so she was able to reach it this time with much more ease, but grabbing it proved to be another challenge. On her second try she almost succeeded, scooping the object up. But the piece fell off of her fin before she could bring it to herself. "No… Okay, come on, come on", she muttered to herself. She managed to flip the piece onto her tail fin again, but instead of balancing it to her hand she just launched it into the air catching it with her opposite hand. "Yes! Got it!" she called, and they headed back to the others. "How's that for a hiccup?"

Next, they walked through the forest, sitting on their dragons, to where the next clue was to be read. And as they did so, Hiccup was playing with the two pieces they had collected. "Look, they fit together", she discovered. "We must be on the right track."

"Hiccup, what are you going to do with your part of the treasure?" Ruffnut asked.

"I'm not really here for the treasure", she answered.

"Great! I get her share!" Snotlout called.

"You know you don't have to do this. Right?" Aric said worriedly. He saw the way Hiccup had reacted in the Great Hall and knew she was just doing this to prove herself... again. He only worried to exactly what lengths Hiccup would go to find this treasure in order to prove her worth she thought she so desperately needed to. Aric knew that mindset; he dealt with it on a daily basis with his sister. But while he knew the limits of Astrid, he had no idea with Hiccup. These trials were only getting more dangerous and he could only imagine what laid ahead. Aric felt even more worried and sorry when Hiccup only dismissed him saying, "Try telling that to my dad."

They stopped once they came upon a rock wall in their path. "This must be the spot", Hiccup said as she took out the map. "Why else would anybody build a wall in the middle of the woods?"

"Uh, duh, to keep out the other trees", Tuffnut so brilliantly answered.

"Well, I got another one for ya", Hiccup continued. "The world is right when stars align. When not in sync a danger you'll find."

"Stars?! I'm not waiting around here till night!" Snotlout complained.

"No, I don't think he means actual stars. I mean, the water didn't really turn to bone."

"Well what do you think it means, Hiccup?" Astrid asked.

"Why are you asking _her_? Maybe _I_ know", Snotlout said as if insulted.

Hiccup and Astrid only stared at him with a 'well we're waiting' face.

"I said maybe. Turns out, I don't."

The two rolled their eyes at the Jorgenson, when Fishlegs noticed something about the wall.

"Huh, there are shapes carved into each one of these bricks", he said coming towards it.

"Keep a look out for anything that looks like a star", Hiccup said.

"Got one!" Snotlout shouted, before pulling the brick out. It only resulted in the wall beginning to become unstable, a trap having been set to crush them all.

Fishlegs freaked out for Snotlout to put it back, but he wasn't strong enough. "Hookfang!"

The dragon wasn't paying attention, too transfixed on a leaf falling. "HOOKFANG!" his rider shouted once more, and that got his attention. He promptly went to his rider and pushed the brick back into place with his snout, stabilizing the wall.

"Okay… It says, in sync", Hiccup recounted. "That means there must be another star!"

"Over here!" Astrid called.

"I think we're supposed to pull them out at the same time. Ruff? Tuff?"

On cue the twins led their Zippleback to the two stones with stars, pulling them out in sync as instructed. The wall then began to shake revealing the portion of the wall with carved stones to be a door. Amazed, they walked in only for the door to close up behind them, and Toothless freaked out a little by it. He clawed at the door not liking the idea of being trapped one bit. Nevertheless, they continued on forward finding torches on the walls. They had their dragons light them, and walked on through the cavern. The path led them to a very warm room with pedestals.

"Ugh, it's so hot. Is anybody else hot? Cause I'm really hot", Snotlout said.

"I know I'm sweating like a dragon at an eel park", Tuffnut agreed.

"Uh, guys?" Aric said noticing something odd about the room. "Is it just me or is the floor moving?"

To see what Aric was talking about Hiccup moved her torch to the floor, and saw little lizards scurry away. "Uh, Toothless, could you give us some light?"

He did, shooting a plasma blast at the ceiling and everyone saw them.

"Fireworm dragons!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "That's why it's so hot in here."

"Whoa", Tuffnut said in awe as he went to pick one up.

"Stop!" Hiccup exclaimed. "Their skin burns hotter than the sun."

"Yeah, but how hot can the sun really be?"

As if to answer his question the tiny dragon's skin heated up setting up a chain reaction. The burn caused Tuffnut to scream in sudden pain, throwing the dragon off his hand which caused all the Fireworm dragons to flame up, now becoming aware of the intruders. They began to run, some climbing on them. A few got onto Hiccup's boot causing her to scream and shake them off, which in turn set Toothless off to protect her. He shot his fire at them, which then caused the other dragons to do the same. A fire then started in the room causing the riders to have a severe time limit or risk being burned alive.

"Grab 'em and let's go!" Snotlout yelled.

"No. It's a choice. Listen to this, guys. Something pure and something strong. Look first to yourself and you won't go wrong."

"Strong… That must be the one made of iron", Fishlegs concluded.

"But iron's not pure. Take the gold", Astrid countered.

Hiccup was taking too long. Soon Hookfang's fire had run out allowing the Fireworms to get closer to their riders and the fire raging around them wasn't much help either.

"It's getting really hard to breathe!" Aric said.

"That's what happens when you're getting roasted alive. You might want to make a decision now Hiccup!" Astrid stressed.

At that moment Hiccup thought she'd found the one. "Look to yourself…" she said approaching it.

"Careful! It could be a trap" Aric warned.

She hesitated for a few moments, but, with her mind made up, she took it. Nothing happened so she thought she made the right decision when suddenly a sound of something cracking sounded. The Fireworms ran away, and Aric knew something wasn't right.

"Hiccup!"

It was too late. The floor crumbled beneath her feet and she fell down unable to catch herself.

"Oh no, hurry!" Astrid shouted to Toothless.

The Night Fury dived into the pit, but only to disappear with Hiccup.

"Where'd he go?! Hiccup!" Aric screamed down.

The room was collapsing all around them, and they had to move but Aric was too transfixed on what had just happened to even think about leaving.

"We gotta get out of here!" Tuffnut called.

"Through there!" Snotlout pointed, seeing a hole in the upper wall they could escape through.

They were all about to mount when Aric exclaimed, "No! We're not leaving them!" grabbing Astrid's arm before she could get onto Stormfly.

"If we don't go now, we'll all be trapped! There won't be anybody to help Hiccup!" she told him.

With that he let go and mounted Shadowstar. They all flew out intent on returning to dig Hiccup and Toothless out.

000

All Hiccup knew at the moment was that she was falling. She couldn't even extend or flap her wings coherently driven by panic. Her mind couldn't register what she needed to do to prevent herself from plowing into the ground and being buried alive by the boulders that followed her down. All she could do was scream.

 **"Don't worry, Hiccup! I'm coming!"** she then heard Toothless call.

In the next second she saw him diving towards her, and when he reached her he wrapped his wings around her. They landed on the ground with a thud, Hiccup protected and cushioned by Toothless' body. After taking a moment to catch their breaths and allow their minds to catch up with them, Hiccup climbed out of Toothless' embrace. The way out was sealed, so they couldn't fly out; they'd have to find a different way.

"Give us some light bud?" Hiccup asked.

He looked around a little trying to find the perfect spot, and when he did, he shot his plasma at the rock, lighting up the cavern. Now that they had light, Hiccup could see her surroundings much better, and when she glanced down she spotted something. It was a hole in the floor with a peg sticking up as if something was to be placed there. She bent down to examine it and looked to it with curiosity and wonder.

"I wonder…" Hiccup took out the three pieces she had collected, connected them like a puzzle, and placed them into the hole. It fit like a glove and she took the peg turning the mechanism. It caused a pedestal to pop out from the ground making Hiccup jump back into Toothless in surprise. He pushed her back up, and then they looked to their left where a door had opened.

 **"Are you sure about this?"** Toothless asked, coupled with a tone of worry.

Hiccup turned to him for a moment. "Well… we came this far?" she said in answer.

She then moved forward and Toothless followed knowing he wouldn't be able to stop her. Hiccup was going to find whatever it was she was looking for even if he _begged_ her not to continue.

000

Fishlegs, Astrid, and Aric all dug as fast as they could moving boulder after boulder, but it seemed endless.

"Keep digging", Aric pressed. "We've gotta find them!"

"Find who!"

They stopped digging, turning to the voice, to see Stoick and Gobber dismount his still unnamed Thunderdrum. All the teens could do was stand there not knowing what to tell the chief. He seemed to pick up what had happened, however, because the next thing he said was, "Hiccup."

000

Hiccup and Toothless were climbing up a fairly steep ramp when they came into another room. It was filled with gold and gems and all kinds of treasures. At the front of it all, stood another pedestal with a note written on the outside of a scroll. Hiccup picked it up and read it out loud.

"This treasure was passed from father to son. I leave it to you the next worthy one. For only a _Halfling_ could get this far. From one to another be proud of who you are!"

She opened the scroll, and what was inside stunned her. "Hamish the Second was… just like _me_! He _knew_ only another one of us could find this place."

What she saw was a skinny little boy, standing beside his father, with scales like hers; it was nothing like the picture hanging in the Great Hall. The drawing wasn't in color but she could tell by the tail and wings that he was in fact half Night Fury. It certainly explained how he got up to such high places without a dragon.

"Look at all this stuff, bud!" she then exclaimed. "I guess being a hiccup, or... _Halfling_ ", Hiccup amended remembering the name he'd given their kind, "...isn't such a bad thing after all."

The pedestal suddenly dropped into the ground only to reveal two more. One was holding a hammer, while the other held a feather.

"Wow! So, Hamish two really loved pedestals… And apparently riddles", she said as she spotted yet another riddle. "In between the body and mind, a choice must be made on what you find. At this moment you must look to yourself, as only one path will give you true wealth... ugh!" she finished in a groan as she heard the cavern shift; the entry way blocked by two pillars crashing down. "Oh, come on, Hamish, you're killing me."

With no time to waste Hiccup looked between the two pedestals. She looked to Toothless, and with a single nod they ran to choose their path.

000

As Stoick dug with the teens desperate to get to his daughter, he heard the ground shift. He looked behind only to see the earth cave in on itself. It could only mean one thing. "Hiccup."

They ran to the site to find the girl, and after the dust cleared out they saw her. She stood with Toothless, a feather held up in one hand and a scroll in the other.

"Hey dad" she said as Stoick ran to her. She ran up to him as well and he picked her up in the tightest bear hug possible, thrilled that she was safe. "Uh… dad, I can't breathe", she choked out, which prompted him to put her down.

The teens came running down all talking at the same time relieved Hiccup was alright as well; all except Snotlout whose mind was only on the treasure. But, Hiccup showed him something better. She unrolled the scroll she had in her hands and said, " _This_ is Hamish's real son." Stoick looked to it with surprise. _'So it's happened once before'_.

"He calls it a 'Halfling'."

"That's not real treasure", Snotlout complained, upset and disappointed.

"To a father it is", Stoick replied. He then bent down to meet Hiccup's eye level. "I never meant to make you feel like you had to do something like this."

"I know, dad. But _I_ had to do it. For myself."

He nodded in understanding, and they embraced once more.

000

 _I've spent most of my life trying to prove to my dad that I could be his kind of Viking. As it turns out, I already was._

000

When they returned home Stoick had their portrait re-done. And this time Hiccup didn't see a stranger, but herself. She stood beside her father holding the scroll of Hamish the First and his son and wearing her mother's helmet. Every scale she possessed was shown, and her pose was of the sweet girl she was. She couldn't have been happier to see it on the wall where it would hang forever, and she made sure to replace the Hamishes' portrait as well. That way, people would know who the boy truly was. _Not_ what everyone wanted him to be.

* * *

 **It was a tough choice between this one and How to Pick Your Dragon for the father daughter bonding episode, but I'm glad I chose this one. Not only was this episode one of my favorites, but by doing this I was able to give you guys that little surprise, integrate the species name for Hiccup's "kind", and delve into the characters more than I could with How to Pick Your Dragon. I hope you guys enjoyed it 'cause I certainly enjoyed writing it.**


	7. Dragon Flower

**And now… the episode you've all been waiting for (okay maybe just some)… Dragon Flower. What did I do with it? Read to find out.**

* * *

 _ **Dragon Flower**_

 _Berk is a small island in the middle of nowhere. So, when we get a taste of something new we tend to go a little… over board. Just a few days ago Trader Johann arrived, and as per usual everyone had to get something from the trader screaming and yelling with excitement like it was the biggest day of the year. Unfortunately, new isn't always good…_

000

Trader Johann's ship sailed into the docks and everyone was crowded around ready for the man to let them on board. He got out his gangplank and crossed onto the dock allowing people to board, but first he said his usual greeting.

"Ah, Berk, my favorite of all the islands I travel to."

"Where have you been this time Trader Johann?" Bucket asked with anticipation.

"Oh, Bucket, the things I've seen, the people I've met. I'd need a week to _regale_ you! But alas we have limited time to conduct our business together. Whatever it is you're looking for, I can assure you you'll find it here!"

At that people ran into the boat looking at all the wondrous new things the trader had brought.

"Trader Johann, is this your only book on botany?" Fishlegs asked.

"Yes, Mr. Fishlegs. Why it was given to me by the author himself."

"Would you take this necklace? It's made from baby dragons' teeth."

"Fair enough Mr. Fishlegs", Johann said slightly grimacing when he held it.

"Ooh, I'm even better looking than I thought", Snotlout commented as he looked into a mirror. He then looked to Astrid who was beside him testing out a mace, and she simply rolled her eyes at the arrogant boy.

She then heard Gobber moan in delight. "You okay there, Gobber?"

"I'm better than okay. I'm in heaven!" he responded holding a piece of silk.

Hiccup, seeing a bottle of ink went to go grab it. She'd just run out while drawing a picture of Toothless and needed some more if she ever wanted to finish it.

"Oh, that's pure squid ink, Hiccup. Wrestled from the colossal squid of the Northern waters", Johann informed chuckling and rubbing his shoulder.

"Well, how about this spyglass? You know, I made it myself", she offered taking the spyglass out from her satchel.

"I know. You've given me five just like it", he laughed. "Unfortunately I've only got the two eyes. What else have you got?"

"What do you think about this winch? Eh, it'll help you pull up your gangplank."

"A welcome tool for a working man's ailing shoulder. Consider it done."

Hiccup smiled as she handed the winch to him, the trader acting as if nothing's changed. She remembered his last visit and how he had simply laughed joyfully, surprised by the dragons now freely roaming the island, as well as her appearance, but not disturbed in the least. He was actually one of the few who hadn't widened his eyes in utter shock—a welcome expression she expected. He simply conducted his business as per usual, talked in his usual joyful manner sharing stories and tales, and then left when all was said and done.

As Johann turned and walked away, Hiccup could see her father testing out a sword. He swung it fiercely back and forth and Hiccup rolled her eyes. "Wow. Another sword. Just what we need", she said sarcastically.

"If you must know, it's not for me. I'm heading off to my yearly meeting with the chief of the Shivering Shores. The last man who showed up without a gift, left without a head", Stoick replied as he absentmindedly sliced the head of a wooden figure behind him. "Johann! What will you take in trade?"

"Stoick!" Trader Johann exclaimed with joy. "It is but your good graces that I desire when my amble ship passes through Berk!"

"You'll always be welcome on our shores! I'll be back in five days", Stoick said as he went to his Thunderdrum. "Oh, what am I saying? I'll be back in two! Thanks to Thornado."

"Oh, you finally named him. Thornado, huh?" Hiccup asked.

"That's right!" he replied as he sat on Thornado who thrashed around raring to go. "Because he has the power of Thor and the ferocity of a tornado! And besides, it's the only thing he'll answer to! Turns out he can be _quite stubborn!_ "

"Can't imagine where he gets that from", she joked.

"Up, Thornado."

Stoick flew off and Johann looked on commenting, "Ah, men riding dragons. What a magnificent sight."

"Johann!" Mildew shouted, interrupting the trader's gaze.

"Mildew!" Johann replied cheerfully.

"Did you bring what I want?" he said grimly.

"Always straight to the point! I like that."

He showed Mildew inside a basket showing that he had indeed brought what Mildew asked for.

"I assume you brought my cabbage?" Johann asked.

Mildew pointed with his staff to the basket of cabbage, and Johann picked it up delightfully smelling the wonderful vegetable.

"Take these to my house", Mildew instructed.

When the old man turned away a Terrible Terror hopped his way up to the baskets meant for Mildew, and Johann turned to see the little one.

"Now, now, now, little fella, that's not for you."

The dragon just ignored him, continuing to snack on what was inside.

"Now, come on, away—Ow!" he exclaimed as the Terror snapped at him. "Feisty little one isn't he", he laughed taking the Terror by his tail and harshly throwing him to the deck.

Toothless didn't appreciate the gesture, and even less did he like the man sensing an offness to him. He lunged towards the trader, growling and ready to defend.

"Safe distance! Please!" Johann freaked.

"Toothless, no!" Hiccup intervened getting in between him and Johann. She pushed his snout away telling him to stop and after a few moments he did, complying with Hiccup's judgment. "S-sorry, Johann. He's just being protective."

Johann immediately calmed down and Hiccup went to pick up a piece of the ink bottle Toothless knocked from her hand when he had lunged at Johann, her ears went down and a frown appeared on her face in disappointment. "Ah, it's gone."

"Oh, sorry lass, that was my last one. But rest assured, I'll find that colossal squid and wrestle you another bottle."

"Oh, Toothless", Hiccup said with pure disappointment.

 **"Sorry"** , he said apologetically.

 **000**

Later that afternoon Hiccup and Toothless joined the other riders at the academy seeing Tuffnut put up a statue. As Hiccup went towards the boy twin, Toothless went to the other side of the arena where the other dragons were and he felt a strange tickle in his nose. He bat at his snout with his paw making the odd sensation go away. Once dealt with he turned his attention to his sister and her friends.

"You got them just for the academy?" Hiccup asked surprised, most likely from the new statue.

"Yeah, we got them from Trader Johann. We had to give him our great grandfather's scull; we got to keep his clavicle", Tuffnut responded as she inspected the statue.

"Wow! You know, it's about time you guys started taking some pride in this place."

"Duck!"

"What?" she said alarmed.

She turned to see Barf and Belch fire at the statue, and Hiccup and Tuffnut just missed the blast, jumping and ducking away, by a fraction of a second.

"That. Was. AWESOME! I want to take a shot!" Snotlout exclaimed, mounting onto Hookfang. "Fire!" he yelled, and Hookfang did so.

The new sensation came to Toothless again and, as the other dragons were taking a turn firing at the statue, he licked his paw now wiping at his snout with a wet paw hoping that would sooth his tickling nose. Everyone had taken their shots and Toothless was going to fire next, wanting to join the fun, when he was strangely interrupted by a sneeze. He mistakenly fired a plasma blast and missed the statue completely. Something he _never_ did.

 **"Ugh, stupid nose"** , he complained as he rubbed his snout with his paw once again. His stupid nose was going to ruin his reputation; a reputation of which he prided himself weird sneeze escaped him not even a second later almost hitting Snotlout when he fired on accident again.

"Hey! Could you tell your dragon to cover his _mouth_ when he sneezes?!" Snotlout complained to Hiccup.

"I-I'm sorry, but that's… never happened before", she said with concern as she walked towards the Night Fury.

He sneezed a third time, this time at the ground, only making her even more worried. Toothless, however, didn't want her to worry; she'd done enough of that as of late. **"I'm fine. See?"** he said perking his ears up with a gummy smile. Unfortunately, it didn't do much.

That night, Toothless only seemed to get worse. He was now feeling slightly drained, and he didn't understand it just wanting to sleep it off. No doubt he would be better in the morning. All he needed was some sleep. As Toothless laid on his rock slab Hiccup placed a hand on his head.

"You're really warm. Well, more than usual anyway. Toothless, I think you're getting sick."

 **"Nonsense. Dragons don't** _ **get**_ _ **sick**_ **."**

"Well then what's _your_ explanation?"

 **"A strange case of the sniffles. Simple."**

Hiccup dropped the subject allowing him to sleep but he knew she wouldn't stop worrying. It seemed to be in her nature to worry. Toothless really didn't understand it and wished Hiccup would sometimes just let her mind rest.

000

The next morning Toothless insisted to go flying, and although Hiccup didn't think it was the best idea, she conceded. They met up with Aric and Shadowstar and the four flew over the island as usual. Everything seemed normal, and she was beginning to think that maybe yesterday was just a fluke until Toothless said, **"Hiccup, I don't feel right."**

Aric was talking about some flowers he spotted, but Hiccup wasn't really paying attention. She was about to have Toothless take them home so he could rest, but then Toothless' flight became out of control. He began sneezing again, wavering their path, and his flight was becoming unstable. They crashed onto the ground only seconds later and Hiccup flew off the saddle as Toothless slumped onto the ground. Uninjured, she immediately ran back to him looking the Night Fury over. She knew something wasn't right; that something was off. Her first hint should have been the fact that dragons didn't typically sneeze.

"Toothless?" she asked trying to get the slumped dragon's attention. "Come on, bud, you alright?"

"Maybe he's got a cold or something", Aric suggested as he and Shadowstar landed. "Do dragons get colds?"

 **"Dragons** _ **do not**_ **get colds"** , Shadowstar informed almost insulted by the notion.

"Toothless, what's wrong? Talk to me", Hiccup said holding his tired face.

He wouldn't answer.

"Whoa, look at that" Aric said seeing the green Terror from before on Johann's ship incoherently gliding down to the ground and flopping on the grass. Dismounted from Shadowstar, Aric picked the little guy up. "Well whatever it is, it looks like he's got it too."

Wasting no more time, Hiccup got Toothless up and dragged him home wanting to get to the bottom of this. As she was doing so, she ran across Gobber and asked for his help. He helped her get Toothless home, and once inside she sat beside her best friend as Gobber cooked something for him.

"This will fix him right up", he said bringing it over when it was done.

"What is that?" she asked looking at the bubbling green liquid he'd brought over.

"It's best not to ask. Whatever you do, don't touch it."

At that moment Toothless sneezed again hitting Gobber, except this time instead of plasma, he shot out snot.

"Ugh! Well that's ruined. I'll never get that yak to vomit again", he said complaining over his now stained tunic.

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted storming into the house. "You gotta see this."

At Astrid's urgency, Hiccup rushed outside. What she saw was all the other riders' dragons flying just as out of control as Toothless had. They were flying all over the place and seemed completely unfocused.

"Help her, Hiccup! She's sick!" Fishlegs shouted as Meatlug spun around like a top in the air to then land flatly on the ground and Fishlegs to topple over from dizziness.

"It's spreading to all the dragons. Uh, how do we stop this?!" Hiccup exclaimed turning to Gobber hoping he'd have an answer.

"Gothi!" Gobber responded. "She'll know what to do!"

With that, Astrid quickly ran to get Gothi while Shadowstar and Stormfly were cared for and taken home by Aric. Hiccup went back inside to look after Toothless and she checked him again. His skin was still abnormally hot, and he still wouldn't say anything. He only made sounds conveying his emotions to her; none of which were happy. The more Hiccup listened, the more she wished she didn't know _exactly_ what each sound he made meant. She just sat petting him soothingly in an attempt to make him at least feel a little better with her presence.

At last Gothi arrived and Hiccup moved aside so the woman could take a look at her dragon. Gothi was quite thorough in her examination; first she felt around his body, then she looked closely at his eyes, his ears, and followed by looking into his mouth. Toothless allowed the woman to do everything with little to no resistance. Once done, she picked up a pile of bones and threw them to the stones by the fire place. Meanwhile, Hiccup went back to Toothless' side as Astrid stood with Gobber behind her.

"I've heard Gothi can tell you when you're gonna die, just by looking at your fingernails", Astrid commented nervously and disturbed.

"Ah, that's just an old wives tale. She looks at your tongue", Gobber said walking to stand behind Gothi so he could read what she was writing in the stone with the ash from the fireplace. "She says they're reacting to something. Like they're allergic."

From where Hiccup sat next to Toothless, her hands on his head in a calming loving manner, she asked, "Allergic? To what?"

"To a moose wearing boots", he answered slowly with confusion.

Gothi, annoyed, whacked him on the head with her staff.

"I didn't think that was right", Gobber said in response.

Gothi wrote her answer again and now Gobber understood. "Ah! Their allergic to something _new_ that's _just_ come to the island." And unable to resist he added, "But that still looks like a moose." It resulted in another whack in the face.

"Well, there are a lot of new things on the island. Trader Johann was just here", Astrid pointed out.

"She says to get rid of everything. Immediately", Gobber translated. "Otherwise it's just going to get worse. The dragons are going to get sicker."

At the horrible news Hiccup laid her head onto Toothless, and she nuzzled him for a moment in comfort for not only him, but also for herself. Then, knowing he would only get better by acting now Hiccup did so. She, and Astrid went to inform everyone to get rid of the things they had recently purchased. A giant pit was dug on a beach on the far side of the island as far away from the village as possible, and one by one Vikings came with their items to throw in. None of them were happy about it of course, but Hiccup, Astrid, and Aric worked to encourage them.

"I know this is hard guys, but I promise you you're doing a good thing. You're helping the dragons", Hiccup said.

"It's the least we can do for them", Aric followed.

Snotlout sighed as he approached the pit with his mirror looking into it one last time. "Good bye beautiful."

"What are you doing?! Throw it in!" Ruffnut demanded to Fishlegs who was frantically flipping through his botany book.

"I'm sorry! But this botany book is a real page turner! I _gotta_ know how it ends!"

Losing patience she ripped the book from his grasp and threw it in as Fishlegs whined, "No Ruffnut! Noh!"

Meanwhile Hiccup was dealing with a similar situation concerning Gobber. "I don't see you throwing anything in the pile, and I thought I saw you buy something from Trader Johann."

"He did. He bought silk", Astrid informed.

"Hand it over, Gobber."

"Can't do that, Hiccup. It's, uh, currently in use. It's my skivvies; they're glorious", he finished in a whisper.

Hiccup only gave the man a hard look similar to one her father would have given.

"Fine", Gobber conceded.

He went behind a rock, and then after about a moment or two purple silk underwear was thrown out and into the pit.

"I could have gone my whole life without seeing that", Hiccup said rather disturbed, but at least now Toothless and the dragons would get better. As she went to bed that night she found herself sniffling, but despite the annoyance, still couldn't have been happier knowing that in the morning her brother would be back to his old self.

000

The following morning Astrid awoke expecting Stormfly to be feeling all better, but what she found was a still very sick Nadder. Hopes dashed, she frowned and went to pet her soothingly.

"Poor girl, can't get comfortable, huh? Oh, I know what'll help! I'll—" She ducked hearing Stormfly sneeze and the sound of her spikes. The wall behind Astrid was struck with them, and seeing that, she turned back to reassure the dragon. "It's okay, Stormfly. I'm a solider; I've been shot at before."

She stayed with Stormfly for the rest of the day until late that afternoon when she saw her brother leave. Knowing he was going to meet up with the others she decided to come along. It wasn't like there was any more that she could do for her dragon. When the two siblings arrived they found Hookfang and Barch sitting outside beside their riders still clearly sick.

"We got rid of everything from Trader Johann, but our dragons aren't getting any better, they're getting worse!" Fishlegs exclaimed as Hiccup approached. As she did, however, Astrid couldn't help but notice the girl didn't look right. She seemed tired and she kept on sniffling almost constantly, her voice slightly congested.

"Let-let's make a list", she said. "Maybe there's somebody who bought something from Trader Johann, but hasn't thrown it into the pit."

"Yeah… there must have been somebody who didn't want to give up what they bought", Aric added in, somehow not noticing Hiccup's change in behavior. If anyone was to notice something wasn't right with Hiccup, she could have sworn it would be him. Maybe he just wanted to wait for the right time to mention it. Their dragons' lives were on the line at the moment. But then again Hiccup was half dragon; whatever was affecting them could have an effect on her, right?

"If I find out who was holding back, I am gonna be _so_ mad", Snotlout threatened bringing Astrid from her train of thought. "Hookfang was so sick, I was up all night scraping dragon barf off our walls!"

"Yeah? Well ours is dead!" Tuffnut dramatically said, concerning and freighting all of them. Astrid couldn't hold the gasp from escaping. "Just kidding. But, he's really not that fun anymore."

"He just sits there. He won't blow anything up!" his sister added.

The scare was completely uncalled for, and Astrid just wanted to smack the two upside the head. But, her best friend came first. Hiccup really wasn't looking good. It looked as if she hadn't slept all night.

"Hiccup? Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course I am. Why?" Hiccup responded. _'Of course she'd respond that way.'_

"Let me rephrase. How was your night?" Astrid amended approaching her.

She didn't answer right away seeming to try and find the right answer, but finally, she did.

"Well… to tell the truth, _not_ well", she surprisingly answered honestly, but lowly. It was almost as if she was telling some secret and Astrid was the only person she trusted enough to tell.

"Was it Toothless?" Astrid said, now matching Hiccup's low volume.

"No… well partly, but no. I've just been sniffling and sneezing a lot. I'm sure it's nothing."

Astrid's response was a look of worry and freight.

"It's nothing. I'm fine, Astrid", Hiccup repeated, now speaking a little louder. "There's _no_ need to worry… That goes for you too, Aric", she said over Astrid's shoulder, noticing Aric's now worried look as well.

' _Well at least he's finally noticed'_ , Astrid thought.

Her brother was about to say something to counter Hiccup's claim, no doubt, when Stoick had arrived.

"Hiccup, put this in the book of dragons!" he called as he dismounted Thornado beginning to walk down the hill towards them. "Never fly on a stomach full of undercooked mutton! The Shivering Shores will never be the same."

The chief's smile and chipper attitude soon died, however, as he saw the teen's sad expressions and the dragons lying on the ground. "What is it, Hiccup? What's wrong?"

"It's the dragons, dad! They're, uh…"

"They're sick", Aric said for her. "And getting worse."

"Every dragon?" Stoick questioned, his gaze then traveling to Hiccup's tired form who then let out a tiny sneeze. Seeming to know what her dad was thinking, she answered. "I'm fine. If this sickness was affecting me, it already would have two days ago _just_ like Toothless."

Astrid doubted it, and was pretty sure everyone else did too, but Hiccup was incredibly stubborn. She liked to be the one to figure things out; to solve the problems. Astrid figured it gave Hiccup a sense of pride or purpose. She could understand that, but at times she felt like the Halfling took it too far. Astrid knew what would happen; Hiccup was never going to admit she was sick. Not until it was too late.

000

Hiccup had to admit she wasn't feeling the greatest. Her head was aching, she was exhausted from her restless night, and she couldn't stop sniffling and sneezing. She wasn't dumb. She knew she was getting the same illness; it was too much of a coincidence. But if she told anyone that, especially any of her friends or her father, they'd force her to go straight to bed and rest. Hiccup didn't want to rest; not until she found a way to cure Toothless. He was far more important. And besides, if they found what was making the dragons sick, then they found what was making her sick as well. It was a win win.

Despite her claims, however, her dad still wanted her inside. So, they left the riders and headed home to "check on Toothless". When they got there they found the Night Fury had made his way back down stairs and was now lying next to the fire place wanting to keep warm. The illness, while making him feel hot to the touch, had made his inner temperature go down. Along with the other usual sounds, he had recently being crying **'Cold'** as well.

Hiccup went to Toothless' side one again, and noticing Toothless' shivers her dad threw some more wood to keep the fire going strong.

"Poor guy", he said getting a closer look at her beloved dragon. "What do you think happened?"

"Ugh, I don't know! Gothi says their allergic to something new to the island, but we think we've gotten rid of everything."

"But if the dragons aren't getting better…"

"Then something must still be here that's making them sick."

They then heard Thornado roar outside, and they immediately went to go check on him, seeing that night had apparently creeped up on them as well. He made the sound again, her father pushing her back from harm's way of his blast, but it wasn't an attack, or a roar. He was sneezing.

"Sneezing. That's the first symptom!" Hiccup warned.

"He was fine until we got back?"

"Uhhh… _'Gods it's getting hard to think'_ we should… retrace your steps."

Retracing his steps, as Hiccup requested, Stoick led her and the teens, who had joined them hearing Thornado's sneezing, to a hill. "Well, this is where I landed", he said.

"Uh… okay look around for anything unusual", Hiccup instructed.

"Does that count?" Fishlegs asked eyeing the twins.

They were laughing and playing some game involving the two running on all fours into each other, their heads colliding.

"Hmm… nothing unusual here", Aric said.

Hiccup then noticed something next to the twins; the flowers Aric had been trying to point out the day before. They were beautiful, a soft blue color that seemed to just shine in the moonlight, but for as long as she lived and explored the island she'd never seen such flowers before. She walked up to them and everyone else followed.

"Um, has anyone seen these flowers before?" Hiccup questioned as she picked one and held it up.

"They were here when I got back", her father claimed.

As Hiccup held the flower, she began to feel slightly dizzy, her head hurting worse than before, and a wave of nausea creeping up. She strained to keep her composure, though, not wanting the others to see her condition getting worse, and she was ever so thankful when Fishlegs took the suspicious flower away. Whether touching it was connected or not, Hiccup didn't care; she leaned as far away from it as she could.

"It looks an awful lot like the Blue Oleander", Fishlegs informed. "I recognize it from my botany book! Chapter eight!"

"Is there anything specific you can remember?" Hiccup asked

"They're very beautiful, very soft, and… poisonous to reptiles!"

"Which means poisonous to dragons!"

Fishlegs threw the flower away and Hiccup wiped her hand on her dress not caring the action wouldn't change the fact that she'd touched it.

"This is serious…" Hiccup continued. "Uh, duh, did your book say anything about a cure?"

"I don't know! Because _somebody_ made me throw it in a pit!"

"Well then go back and dig it up!" she shouted.

"I don't understand? Where did these flower even come from?!" Aric asked.

"Mildew", Tuffnut said causing everyone to turn to him. "I saw him plant them the other night."

"And you didn't think that was strange."

"No! Well, maybe… I don't know?! Quit pressuring me!"

Despite Hiccup's attempts to keep her condition quiet her body had other plans, because just then she unfortunately gathered everyone's attention releasing a big sneeze which propelled her back into her father who thankfully held her up from just crumpling onto the ground.

"Oh…" she said shaking her head now _really_ dizzy.

"Let's go pay the old man a visit", her dad then said angrily still keeping her up.

000

He could see Hiccup's skin becoming paler as time went by and there were dark circles forming under her eyes, seen clearly in the moonlight. As Stoick helped Hiccup back to her feet he also took the opportunity to check her forehead. It was warm as he'd suspected, the sign of a fever forming.

' _She should have never touched that flower.'_

Despite what he said or ordered, however, Stoick couldn't get Hiccup to go home, nor stay there. She wanted to go confront Mildew, and wouldn't let the notion go. Deciding there was no way he was going to get her to stay put anyway, and their time was limited, he relented and allowed her to come.

"Mildew! What do you know about these flowers?" Stoick infuriatingly said, he, Hiccup, and Aric entering the old man's home and Stoick holding one up.

"Oh, _those_? I bought them from Trader Johann. Why? Is there something _wrong_?" the old man asked in his usual innocent yet deceitful tone.

"These _flowers_ are poisonous to dragons!"

"Or did you already know that?" Hiccup added.

"Well, so what if I planted a few flowers? The town square has never looked better. I was merely trying to spread some beauty and happiness", Mildew defended.

"Since when have you cared about beauty or happiness?" Aric challenged.

"You did this", Hiccup accused.

"What? Me?! Ha! Well I had no inkling Stoick that these flowers had _special properties_. Which true I'm no friend of the dragon, but in this case, on my life, I was _not_ trying harm them. Nor you, _Hiccup_ ", Mildew added, saying her name with disgust. "How _are_ you feeling?"

Hiccup didn't answer. She just simply glared at him.

"Poor dear, so sick can't even talk? Might want to get her home _now_ , Stoick", he said with faked concern.

"Let's go", Stoick frustratingly sighed, leading the kids out.

There was no point in staying; Mildew wasn't going to admit to it, and there was nothing he could do about it. When it came to these things there were rules. Stoick may have been chief but he still had a council to convince, and unless Mildew admitted to it, there was no proof of whether Mildew planted them with the intention to kill Hiccup and the dragons or not. There wasn't even proof if he knew the flowers were poisonous to them, which he claimed he didn't. Stoick had very little to no doubt Mildew had purposefully planted those flowers to kill the dragons; possibly Hiccup as well. He wasn't blind; Stoick knew Mildew had the motive to do such an act, but alas, he couldn't act on his suspicions. And he knew they were nothing more than suspicions.

000

Confronting Mildew was a bust, and apparently a complete waste of time. She should have known that old man would have been able to weasel his way out. It was what Mildew seemed to do best.

Hiccup was now lying curled up on the grass outside the forge along with her father and friends waiting for Fishlegs. They wouldn't stop insisting she go inside and rest. Sure her head still felt a little dizzy and wouldn't stop pounding, and sure she still kept sneezing, and sure she was starting to feel nauseated, but it wasn't like she was going to let those little things stop her. She was only lying down to humor them; _not_ because at the moment she felt like if she stood she would puke right then and there.

"You need to go home. Let _us_ take care of this. You don't always have to be the hero", Aric said, trying to convince her again, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Aric's right, hun, we need to get you inside", her father followed. Hiccup was about to protest, as he was about to just carry her home and probably tie her to her bed, but then she saw Fishlegs running up to them.

"Fishlegs!" She said as she sat up. "You found your botany book!"

"Well, what does it say?" Astrid asked.

Fishlegs didn't answer. He was freaking out, sniffling and crying. Hiccup shakily stood up and went to her friend.

"Calm down, talk to me", she told him.

"My botany book says that Blue Oleander is poisonous to reptiles. And dragons are reptiles!" he answered.

"We know that. Was there anything else?"

"Not in here. But I remembered the Book of Dragons talked about a dragon that feeds on the Blue Oleander. It's called the Scauldren. I-in a perfect world if it eats the flowers maybe its venom can be used as an antidote like with snakes and spiders. But alas, we do not live in a perfect world. Look! The Scauldren has no venom!" he exclaimed turning the book towards them.

"No, but it looks cool", Tuffnut said as he looked at the picture.

"Don't you understand?! The book says no venom!"

"Okay, got it! _No_ venom. _Golly_ , write it on your forehead."

"The book is wrong!" Gobber intervened ominously exiting the darkened forge as if for effect. "I've dealt with a Scauldren before. They're sixty feet long with razor sharp teeth! It'll shoot boiling water that melts the flesh from your bones! The Scauldren has no fear. No conscience. But what the Scauldren does have is _venom_! And lots of it!"

"I'm out", Tuffnut said.

"I'm with him", Ruffnut followed, neither wanting to deal with a dragon like that.

"Alright, you guys stay here and take care of the dragons", Hiccup instructed.

"What are you going to do?" Fishlegs warily asked.

"Dad, Gobber, let's go find ourselves a Scauldren."

"I thought you'd never ask!" Gobber exclaimed.

"No! No! Hiccup, I have allowed you to help thus far, but there is no way I will allow you to go on such a dangerous mission. Especially in your condition!" Stoick exclaimed.

"For the last _time_ , I'm fine! The poison hasn't taken full effect on me yet."

"And I'd like to keep it that way."

"Dad, I need to do this. For Toothless; for all the dragons. Our pack. Maybe I could convince the Scauldren to give us some of his venom peacefully. You have to let me try."

Her father stared at her for what felt like an eternity, but finally he relented sighing. "Fine. But _take_ it easy! I don't want to lose you too."

Hiccup replied with a small smile, and then they all went to prepare for the trip. They had to go tonight. She didn't know how much longer the dragons could hold on, nor how long she, herself, had before the poison took its hold leaving her as sick and helpless as all the other dragons.

As the ship was being prepared Stoick and Hiccup went to check on their dragons one more time. Hiccup sat in her room with Toothless reading the chapter on Scauldrens to get a better understanding of what they were about to deal with. There wasn't exactly much, but the dragon certainly looked like something you shouldn't mess with; not that you should mess around with any dragon.

"Look at that thing", she said with amazement. Hiccup hoped she could talk him or her into giving them his or her venom. She'd hate it if they had to take it forcefully.

Looking up from her book, Hiccup watched as Toothless just lay on his bed. He seemed to almost be in a peaceful sleep, but as evidence by her own pounding head, he clearly wasn't. He woke up from is restless sleep and she put the book down as she stood to console him.

"You just hold on bud. I'll be back before you know it."

 **"Just… be careful…"** Toothless, with as much strength as he could muster, told her.

"I will. You just need to be strong", Hiccup replied hugging his head.

She left Toothless to try and rest and went downstairs to get her father. Walking outside and peering around the house to where she knew she'd find him, Hiccup saw a sight she thought she never would; Stoick standing in front of a dragon talking to him and caring for him like he would a sick child. She decided she wouldn't interrupt just yet wanting to see the sight for just a little longer.

"How's my dragon warrior?" he asked.

Thornado only huffed tiredly and her father seemed to understand his discomfort. He brought over a small rock and placed it under the Thunderdrum's head as a pillow.

"I've spent my whole life trying to kill them", he sighed. "Now look at me."

Hiccup decided that she'd seen enough; they needed to get going anyway. She walked from where she was spying, and her father seemed to sense her presence cause as soon as she came up behind him he turned around looking down at her.

"Dad, it's time. The boat's ready."

000

"Why this is an outrage! I dug up all the flowers! I did my part!" Mildew complained as they rowed out to sea.

"We're all out here _because of you_ , Mildew! If we have to put our lives at risk then _so do you_!" Stoick said losing his patience with the man, though he still kept his composure.

"You have no proof, Stoick!" Mildew exclaimed angrily as he stepped forward, challengingly, towards him. "You can't blame me every time something goes amiss with your _precious dragons_ ", he sneered getting into Hiccup's face as he said 'precious dragons'. Once again he was insinuating Hiccup was nothing more than a dragon, and in his mind they were nothing more than mindless beasts. It infuriated him to no end how Mildew could still be so distrustful and bitter towards her and her dragons after everything she and the dragons had done for the village. His daughter had proven their thoughts on dragons wrong countless times; he himself even had a dragon of whom he loved as a great and wonderful companion. And yet, though Stoick couldn't prove it, he still loathed them enough to purposefully try to murder them.

Gobber came up with a bucket, taking Stoick from his thoughts. "Alright Stoick, what's the plan", he said handing Stoick the bucket.

"Hiccup, when Gobber and I secure the dragon's head Sven will wedge its jaw open. We'll need you to—"

"Drain the poison into this bucket. Got it", Hiccup interrupted tiredly grabbing hold of the bucket. Her eyes seemed unfocused and every so often she would sway like her body was threatening to give out. It worried him to no end if bringing her was a good idea. "That is if we need to even take it forcefully" she added reminding him why he agreed. Hiccup could talk to dragons, and if she could convince the Scauldren into giving them its venom, they wouldn't have to fight it and would be back to Berk much sooner. That was what was really important.

Initiating step one of their plan, Stoick moved to the Blue Oleander that sat in a bag on the side of the boat as far away from Hiccup as possible—he didn't need her getting worse—and began pushing the flowers out and onto the water like a trail to lure the dragon to them.

000

It had been maybe an hour or two of waiting for a Scauldren to come by, but Hiccup neither saw, nor heard anything and the smell of the Blue Oleander was driving her crazy. Hiccup wasn't sure how many times she'd puked. Fortunately, she could hide it as sea sickness though. She was never really one for boats.

"Bah! This is not working! It was a stupid idea to begin with!" Mildew, for the hundredth time, complained.

A growl escaped her as Hiccup snarled wanting to lunge at him, her clouded mind not catching up with her emotions. Luckily, her father stopped her bringing her back to reality. "Easy, dear, that's _not_ why we're here", he said before Gobber intervened.

"But that is", Gobber said from the other side of the boat.

Hiccup, Stoick, and Midew all went to join him to see, and what greeted their eyes was a large green dragon just under the surface of the water.

"Scauldren", Stoick said in awe and maybe even fear.

The dragon briefly surfaced, slightly jumping out from the water, and they got a look at its face. He peered at them for the brief moment that he could.

"I may need to change my skivvies", Gobber said with freight.

"Hiccup, now! Speak to it", her father encouraged.

Leaning slightly over the boat she began to do as her father said. **"Sir, please, if you can hear me we need your help"** , she said with kindness, caution, and urgency to let him know she meant him no harm or disrespect, but that she was in a hurry. She didn't know the average natural tendencies of Scauldrens so she had to tread lightly showing him the utmost respect.

 **"And why is that? Why should I help some humans that have** _ **trespassed**_ **into** _ **my**_ **waters?"** he replied sharply clearly just wanting them gone.

 **"I'm sorry we've trespassed into your territory but I and the dragons in my pack are sick. And the only cure is** _ **your**_ **venom. Just allow us to take what we need and you'll never see us again. I promise."**

 **"I highly doubt that. I still don't see why I should help you. You've done nothing for me but invade, and the only reason you've come is to take what is mine."**

With his response Hiccup made a mental note. She'd been keeping record of the natural and most common behaviors amongst all the different species. Night Furies were curious and very intelligent—if herself and Toothless were anything to go by—, Nadders were vain, but too, were curious, Nightmares were hotheaded—no pun intended—and always demanded respect, Grockles were open, kind, and often caring, Zipplebacks were very often dimwitted, and liked to fight with their other head, Thunderdrums were stubborn but loyal, and _Scauldrens_ were wary, very untrusting, and maybe even a little selfish—although the last one could just be him.

 **"I will not help you. Goodbye little youngling"** the Scauldren finished.

He began to swim away, disappearing under the waves, and Hiccup began to panic. **"No! Wait!"**

"We need to lure the Scauldren up on deck!" she exclaimed as she raced to the bag, containing the Blue Oleander, which was on the other side of the boat. Before her father could protest Hiccup grabbed the bag and half-hazardly spilled the flowers onto the deck. As she did so her legs for some reason gave out, suddenly feeling extremely weak, and she fell forward just as she finished spilling the contents of the bag.

"Hiccup!" her father said coming to her with worry.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" she waved dismissively. "But he won't help! We're going to plan 'B'!"

"Oh… that's great… Now let's get it on the ship where it can HAVE AT US ALL!" Mildew said with a mix of sarcasm and anger.

"Gobber! Secure his neck with this! I'll lasso his horn" Stoick said throwing Gobber a rope as he held a rod with a lasso attached.

They ran to the front of the ship but when they looked over they didn't see the dragon. Hiccup began to fear she'd been too late and the Scauldren had already left, unable to smell the scent of the flowers scattered amongst the boat. A scent of which was making Hiccup more dizzy and nauseous by the second—if that were even possible.

They all waited. They waited, and waited, and waited, the boat rocking eerily now in the quiet of the waters. Suddenly, one of the men's oars was taken from their grasp pulling it out and then under the sea. They looked out to where the oar had disappeared beneath the waves to find a fast coming wake barreling towards their boat. Within seconds they were hit and the boat was sent high into the air knocking everyone down with the force. They landed back onto the waves and when the boat nearly settled were then greeted by the Scauldren.

Behind Mildew the Scauldren roared and the old man screamed scrambling to get away. The dragon put its claw onto the ship hauling himself up and tipping the boat towards him in an angle that made everything and everyone fall towards him. People grabbed onto whatever they could to anchor themselves, but Hiccup was too slow. She slid down to the end of the ship where the Scauldren laid in wait and she screamed as her father called in fear for her. Suddenly she was stopped, however, by Gobber. He grabbed her outstretched arm and easily hauled her up to hold onto the side of the ship.

The flowers had also slid towards the dragon; his main target. And as each batch came down he chomped on each eating as much as he could find and get. While he was distracted with the flowers Stoick called to Gobber who was making sure Hiccup had a good enough hold.

"Gobber, here's our chance!" he called.

Letting go of their own holds they slid down towards the Scauldren and hooked their ropes around the dragon trying to pull him down. He pulled back trying to escape under the sea, but Stoick and Gobber held strong.

"We can't let that thing get back into the water!" Stoick said.

With all their might they pulled getting the dragon to resurface and his head back over the boat. "Sven! We need that barrel now!"

"I've got the bucket!" Hiccup called out as Sven ran up with the barrel.

As she began to step up ready to drain the venom, Sven threw the barrel into the Scauldren's mouth successfully wedging his jaw. He cheered at his success only for the Scauldren to snap down at the barrel and break it apart. The dragon's tail came swinging, and Stoick tried to warn him, but it came too late. Sven was hit and flown off the boat into the sea.

As Hiccup watched the Scauldren she held the bucket tight trying to remain focused but it was becoming difficult as her vision began to swim. At times she wasn't sure where the Scauldren was seeing two or three at a time. She wasn't even sure if there was only one anymore. As she tried to regain focus she didn't notice the tail coming up from the water ready to swing at her next.

"Hiccup behind you!" her dad warned, but she barely heard him.

He ran to push her out of the way, and in the process he was hit instead.

"Dad!" she called lying on the deck from his push.

He wasn't flung into the sea, rather, holding onto the tail as it thrashed around to pry him loose. Soon it swung to the mast and sails where her father held on trapping the tail there.

"I've got his tail!" he called.

"Hiccup, grab your dad's line!" Gobber told her.

Swaying a bit, she got up from all fours and tried to grab the swinging rope. With her vision still swimming, her focus going in and out, only sometimes returning, she'd missed her first two attempts. On the third Hiccup did it, catching the rope and somehow hooking it to something. With everything going on, she didn't see and frankly didn't care as she summoned all the strength she could to not lose hold of the Scauldren.

"Got it!" she called.

"Pull him in! Use the mast to wedge his jaw open!" Stoick instructed.

At his order they did so, Hiccup and Gobber both working to pull the dragon to the mast. Once they'd gotten the dragon's head on his side they pulled back a little further to force his mouth open around the mast where Mildew coward behind.

"Mildew! Grab the bucket!"

"Hold on!" Mildew yelled back to the chief. "It's one thing for me to—"

"GRAB THE BUCKET OR I'LL THROW YOU OVER BOARD MYSELF!"

With that Mildew grabbed the bucket, but he hesitated too long and the Scauldren began to bring up his boiling water.

"EVERYONE TAKE COVER!"

Mist began to come from the dragon's mouth, the water boiling up and up, and Mildew ran from the mast for cover.

"Gobber!" Hiccup called trying to lift a shield for her own protection. He ran over to her and helped her pull it up, and just as they'd found cover, the dragon fired spraying its boiling water strait at them all.

The water was so hot it chewed through the mast the dragon was held against and Hiccup watched as her father fell with it into the sea.

"Dad!" Hiccup attempted to chase after, her ill feeling gone, but didn't get very far as Gobber held her from even taking one more step.

Mildew coward behind a box at the back of the ship and once the Scauldren roared once more he freaked. He screamed and ran across the boat in utter panic, but the dragon caught him by his butt seeing the flower that was attached. Gaining his last flower, he bid his farewell.

 **"Thanks for the meal. Now never come back."**

The Scauldren retreated back to the water and he swam off. "He's gone", Hiccup sighed.

"And you can bet the last place he's coming back to is this ship", Gobber added.

"We didn't get the venom", Stoick dreadfully said having swam and climbed back onto the ship.

"AHH!" Mildew screamed.

They turned to it and saw the old man withering in pain, his butt straight up in the air.

"Yes we did", Hiccup said tiredly, but happily. _'Mildew's finally gotten what he deserved.'_

"Get this poison out of me!" he shouted desperately.

"Oh, we will." And with that Hiccup couldn't take it anymore. Her body and mind felt weak, and the adrenaline which had kept her going was gone. She felt her legs give out and the last thing she knew was the feeling of someone catching her before everything went black.

000

Once Hiccup had passed out Stoick wasted no time in getting back to Berk. They needed to get that venom out of Mildew's butt and fast. They arrived home as fast as they could and once on the island he immediately carried Hiccup home charging Gobber with getting the venom.

Entering his home, Stoick saw Toothless sitting by the darkened fireplace. He was going to place Hiccup in her bed, but figured the two might be more comfortable together. He often caught Hiccup or Toothless in the other's bed snuggled together like two newly born dragon hatchlings. He placed her beside the dragon and the two immediately snuggled closer to one another in their sleep. Stoick then started the fire up again and went for a blanket seeing them both shivering; Hiccup curling up for warmth.

Now all he had to do was wait. He decided to go outside to check on Thornado, and after taking care of him he went back inside. As he did, he saw Hiccup in the light of the fire and was able to see how much her condition had truly worsened. Surprisingly, even out of the pale moonlight, she looked even paler than before, and the circles under her eyes seemed to have darkened. To top it all off, she was also just as hot to the touch as Toothless.

As he waited for Gobber, Stoick pondered on how Hiccup could have gotten so much worse so quickly; it couldn't have just been the strain from everything that just happened. There was only one answer he could think of. The flowers. Even just being near them had made her worse and worse. It didn't help at all that she hadn't rest at all since she began to fall ill. She just kept going until eventually she couldn't fight it anymore and collapsed. Stoick knew this could happen, Hiccup burning herself out, and yet he was foolish enough to allow her to come not only because of the chance that they could've gotten the venom much quicker, but also because he knew she'd refuse to listen. She would have either stowed away or taken her own ship. The girl was too stubborn for her own good, something she seemed to have received from both him and Valka.

Valka. Seeing Hiccup like this, so pale and fragile… It made him think of when she had fallen ill herself. This was so much like that adventure it almost scared him. At least he knew Hiccup would soon be alright. That is if Gobber would finally just get there; the wait was starting to kill him.

That's when he heard a scream that sounded an awful lot like Gobber. He couldn't ponder on it for long as not even a moment later Aric had walked in with a jar.

"How's she doing?" the boy asked breathlessly like he'd just ran to the house.

"She's resting", Stoick simply answered. There was no reason to worry the boy. He grabbed two cups and they poured some of the venom into each. As Stoick moved to get Hiccup to drink her cup, Aric went to Toothless to do the same. "Now, we wait", he then said laying Hiccup back onto Toothless.

000

Hiccup wasn't sure how long she'd been out, but when she awoke she found that she was home and somewhat draped on Toothless. Her father wasn't there, however, most likely checking on Thornado or something.

 **"Hey, how're you feeling?"** Toothless asked, seeming better.

 **"** … **Good"** , she answered surprised.

That's when it hit her. They'd gotten the venom. If she and Toothless were feeling better did that mean…? Her nose didn't feel stuffed, and when Hiccup stood she did she didn't feel a wave of nausea or dizziness. She decided to head outside and when she turned she saw Toothless following her lead. It was a great sight to see him back on his feet.

When she made her way out the door she found her dad pacing outside near Thornado. He was so lost in thought he hadn't even seen her and Toothless approaching.

"Dad!" she called, gaining his attention immediately. "I think it's working."

He stared at her for a moment before joyfully laughing and scooping her up. Once he put her down Thornado had made a happy crooning sound, and he then went to his dragon to greet him back to the realm of health.

"Thornado!" he gleefully called and went on all fours to place his head to his dragon's.

"How're you feeling, bud?" Hiccup asked remembering she never asked him.

In answer he shot a plasma blast up into the air where it beautifully exploded with purple light in the night sky.

"It's good to have you back, bud."

 **"You too."**

000

The next morning Hiccup decided to redraw the same portrait of Toothless she'd started before nearly dying; this time in charcoal since she had no ink to finish her last attempt. Toothless laid in the same position he had before on his bed for her and they each smiled at the return to normalcy hearing the laughter of their friends flying outside.

000

… _A deadly flower, and a very moody and venomous sea dragon. Two things I never really thought I'd have to deal with in the same day. But I'll do anything for my dragon._

* * *

 **Sorry this one was a little late. Nevertheless, I hope it was worth the wait, and I hope ya'll liked what I did.**


	8. Heather Report (Part 1)

**Yay an Astrid and Aric episode! I'm actually really glad I added Astrid in. She made me actually want to do this episode. Thank G-d for Race to the Edge or I would have never liked Heather like I do now. If it wasn't for Astrid (the one in this story) I probably would have skipped this two parter due to the fact that it's one of my least favorite episodes. This was mainly due to the whole jealousy thing they had in the underlying tone of the first part, of which I still kept as an element but really as more of a joke than anything else. You'll see what I'm talking about. The joke only appears in one scene and nowhere else except for maybe a reference.**

 **Now without further ado, on with Part 1 of Heather Report!**

* * *

 _ **Heather Report (Part 1)**_

 _When it comes to dragons, its important to have teamwork. This we know. But its also important to work with your fellow riders as well. Sometimes we can't see when someone is just trying to protect us and it can break that friendship or bond. Sometimes for good. Just as a rider must listen to their dragon, a rider must also listen to their teammate._

000

"Yeah! Come on girl! Go Shadowstar, go!" Aric yelled as they raced through the forest and around the cliffs.

"Here they come!" Astrid shouted, the riders watching from the academy.

With each landmark or, more specifically, flag the two passed Fishlegs would mark the time on the sundial, documenting their speed.

"Yep. It's a new course record", Fishlegs said.

"For him at least", Hiccup smirked.

Aric landed back into the academy and after dismounting Shadowstar pet her in praise for the great work she did. "So, how'd we do?" he then asked.

"Technically you're still the second fastest…" Fishlegs started, Aric turning to Hiccup, the two playfully but challengingly looking at one another. "…But someone, and I won't mention who, is gaining significant ground."

He turned to Astrid who was scratching Stormfly and smirking victoriously at him. It was all the conformation that he needed. "How can that be? How can Shadowstar be getting slower?"

"She's not. Stormfly is getting faster."

"Oh, really? Is that so? Anything you'd like to share, Astrid?"

"Let's just say, I'm experimenting with what she eats. Apparently, it's working. And making you mad", Astrid responded.

This was a daily occurrence for the two; always competing with one another, and trying to get the upper hand. Aric was always winning against his older sister. He won just about everything. It made Astrid mad considering she was older and he was supposed to look up to her; perhaps that doesn't really work when you're only about a year a part, but she still preferred the idea of her little brother needing to catch up with her. Not the other way around. The fact that Astrid was finally gaining traction was a great thrill for her. Especially since Aric didn't like the sound of his sister beating him at anything. The two were extremely competitive. They both knew it, and both still loved each other despite it.

"You will not believe what I just found!" Snotlout said suddenly flying in.

"A severed head?" Tuffnut asked excitedly.

"Our cousin Lars?" Ruffnut followed.

"Our cousin _Lars'_ severed head?"

"Lars died?!" Fishlegs worried.

"Who said that?!" Tuffnut took back.

"Um, excuse me? Do you guys want to see this, or not?" Snotlout intervened.

He took them to a beach where a wrecked ship was lying on the sand and Tuffnut wasn't very impressed. "Huh, a wrecked boat on Berk? Yeah. There's something new."

"Just remember, I saw it first, so it's mine", Snotlout said implying there was more to the boat than met the eye. He crouched down to look under, and waved everyone else to take a look. They did, and what they saw wasn't an it, but a she. A girl with dark black hair, maybe about their age, was lying face down in the sand.

"Whoa. Now I like the boat", Tuffnut said.

"Remember, I get to keep her", Snotlout reminded much to Astrid's annoyance.

"Snotlout, it's a person", she said.

"Right? How lucky is that?" he replied.

Hiccup rolled her eyes and went inside to try and rouse the mysterious girl. "Uh, hey", she said shaking her arm a bit. "Hey there?"

The girl woke up, and once she looked up, freaked at the group of strangers suddenly in front of her. She cowered as far back as she could underneath the turned over boat, her bright green eyes shining with freight.

"Whoa, it-it's okay. We're friends", Hiccup said kindly.

The girl relaxed a bit but then began coughing. "Do-do you have any water?" she asked softly and timidly once her coughing fit ceased.

With the request came all the boys, spare Aric, eagerly pushing each other to be the one to give her water. In the end, Snotlout successfully shoved Fishlegs and Tuffnut away handing the pretty girl his water. "Allow me", he said.

"Thank you", she said, and then gulped it down, handing the jar back when she finished. "Wh-where am I?"

"This is Berk", Hiccup kindly replied.

 **"Who are you talking to? Oh, new girl? Hi!"** Toothless excitedly pushed through wanting to see the person his sister was talking to. It resulted in the girl cowering again in fear of the Night Fury.

"Oh no, don't be afraid. He won't hurt ya", Hiccup reassured pushing the curious dragon's head out of the girl's face. "Come on out, it's okay."

As the girl came out Hiccup went to Toothless to calm him down so he wouldn't frighten the girl away again. **"Easy, bud. She's scared. You've got to be gentle"** , she said holding her hands up in the gesture of 'calm down'. Toothless moved back in understanding and sat down calmly.

"H-How did you do that?" the raven haired girl asked as she came out from under the boat, seeing how Hiccup had calmed Toothless.

"That?" Snotlout interjected. "That's nothing. Watch this. Hookfang get your butt over here!"

 **"Really? Again?! Ugh! You're on your own!"** the dragon frustratingly said flying away in a huff.

"Ha ha ha… He'll be back. Jokester", Snotlout nervously said, still trying and failing to impress the new girl. "Oh! And just so you know, I'm the one who rescued you", he then added hoping that would make up for his previous blunder.

"And I would be Hiccup", Hiccup said introducing herself.

"Heather", the girl now known as Heather introduced back.

"So, Heather? What happened to you?" Aric asked.

"My family and I were on our way home to our island when our boat was attacked by pirates—"

"I want to be a pirate!" Tuffnut interrupted, everyone turning back to look at him questioningly. "Or a fish cleaner. I'm still on the fence."

"Ach-hem! You were saying?" Astrid said, encouraging Heather to continue.

"They attacked our boat, an-and took us back to our island laying siege to it. I was able to escape, but my mother and father… they weren't so lucky", Heather finished sadly, trailing off.

Hiccup placed her hand on Heather's shoulder in comfort. "Hey, everything's gonna be okay. My dad's the chief. We'll figure something out." She led Heather to Toothless where the two got ready to take off so they could talk with Stoick. Taking off resulted in Heather screaming in freight and holding onto Hiccup for dear life.

As everyone else headed to their dragons, Astrid hung back for a bit. Something about the girl's story and just the way she was acting didn't seem right to her. She wasn't sure if it was her overly gentle and innocent-like voice or something else, but something just didn't sit right. She looked back at the boat inspecting it for anything suspicious, but when she found nothing she decided there was probably nothing to see; even if that feeling didn't go away. She went to Stormfly and hopped on looking down at Aric who was getting ready to take off on Shadowstar.

"Hey, don't forget we're meeting tomorrow to work on our times" she said to her brother. "Unless of course you want me and Stormy to be the second fastest? And who knows? Maybe with some more work, we could even beat Hiccup and Toothless. How does that sound brother? Stormfly being the fastest dragon on Berk?" Astrid added, egging him on.

"Yeah, that's defiantly _not_ gonna happen. We will be there", Aric responded not willing to let his sister take his place.

The siblings took off not noticing a certain someone was left behind. "Uh, could I get a ride with someone?!" Snotlout shouted out.

000

At the Hofferson's house Aric was showing Heather around leading up the stairs to Astrid's room which she and his sister would share. Astrid would have done it, but she was "busy" at the moment with "something important". Nevertheless, it was agreed Heather would stay there while the chief figured out what to do about her island. The Hoffersons had agreed to help her anyway they could in the meantime.

"And… here we are! This is where you'll be sleeping. Gotta warn you, though, Astrid's a bit of a snorer", Aric said. "Though you didn't hear it from me", he then added in.

Heather laughed a little and then in the same quiet tone said, "It was nice of your family to let me stay here."

"It was no problem. For now, just consider yourself as part of the family."

Heather just simply looked around the room until her eyes caught on Astrid's desk. She walked towards it. "Whoa… What are these? They're really good" Heather then said referring to some papers and drawings on the desk.

"Oh, these? They're just some drawings Hiccup made. I have some in my room too. She likes to make all _kinds_ of sketches. We asked if we could have some to keep and she gladly gave them to us." The drawings mainly consisted of Stormfly or Astrid in some pose; a few with them together. Some were of his sister sitting, others in a battle stance likely drawn while watching her train. And then there were a few of Aric and Astrid together doing whatever. He pointed to one with all six of them; Astrid, himself, Hiccup, Toothless, Stormfly, and Shadowstar. "This one, we specifically asked for her to make. Hiccup had been drawing herself for a while so she was able to add herself in. And I have to say pretty flawlessly. I have a similar copy."

"That's really nice. You guys must be good friends", Heather replied softly.

"Yeah…" he replied with a smile looking down at the picture. It quickly turned into a frown, however, when he saw something else on the desk. "Hey, wait a minute. Those are mine! Ugh, course she'd go snooping in my room", he said picking up a stack of papers.

"What are they?"

"Oh, they're just some plans to help me and Shadowstar increase our speed. Astrid's very competitive. Hiccup's been helping me out to keep ahead of her. She said she didn't want to pick sides, but I _easily_ won her over. She just can't resist my charm", he joked.

"I see", Heather once again replied in that same interested but soft tone of hers.

An uncomfortable silence then washed over them, neither one knowing what to say next. Deciding to end the awkwardness Aric let himself out.

"Okay! So, uh, do you need anything? Some warm yak milk? I nice fish stew?" he asked walking towards the exit, still quite uncomfortable.

"No. Thank you, Aric", she giggled. "I'm—I'm really tired. It's been a long day."

"Alright then. I'll just let Astrid know to be quiet when she comes back."

He began to walk out when Heather stopped him. "Hey, Aric."

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

"Sleep well Heather", he replied with a smile. He then walked out and down the stairs towards his room thinking of where to hide his plans so Astrid couldn't grab them again. He'd probably need to ask Hiccup to help him out with creating some new ones too. Just to make sure Astrid didn't know what he was doing to make Shadowstar faster.

000

Outside, in Stormfly's stable, Astrid was feeding her dragon chicken as the dragon happily squawked.

"That's it girl, finish up your chicken", Astrid said. "By the time Aric figures out _this_ is what's giving you all that energy he'll be eating our dust."

Stormfly continued to eat until suddenly her head perked up hearing something. Astrid became a little startled by the sudden change and went on guard. "What is it girl?" she whispered.

Astrid then thought she saw someone, and she turned to see who it was. She didn't see anyone, but that didn't mean someone wasn't there. "You stay here", she silently told her dragon and then walked a little ways through the village to where she thought they might have gone. That's when she saw someone run from behind a house.

"Hey!" she yelled, and then chased.

She stopped, however, when she saw who it was. "Heather?"

000

Aric and Hiccup were in the forge together the next morning. As Hiccup was making a new saddle and tail for Toothless, Aric was bouncing ideas of what more he could do to improve Shadowstar's speed. They were interrupted, however, when Heather came in.

"Hey, you're up early", she commented.

"Oh hi, Heather", Hiccup replied. "Yeah, just wanted to get the jump on this. Just because I'm helping you, doesn't mean I'm letting Toothless fall behind in being the fastest dragon", Hiccup said, turning with her last sentence to Aric.

"You know, with a shorter connecting rod it'll push you back in the saddle and make you more streamlined", Heather said looking at the saddle.

Hiccup's eyes widened and she went to pull another connecting rod from the fire having previously put in four. "Which will increase our _speed_!" she slowly said amazed with the intelligence of the girl in front of her. "Yeah! Oh, you hear that, bud? Oh they're going to be seeing a lot more of your tail!"

Toothless warbled back happily.

Heather laughed as Hiccup quickly went back to work using Heather's advice. She went over to Aric who was going over a training course he'd planned out making adjustments with the ideas Hiccup had made. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Working on this training course I'm making in the forest. Hopefully it'll help."

"It looks neat. When can we test it out?"

"How 'bout right now? I just need to make a few adjustments anyway" he answered. As he started heading out with Heather he turned to Hiccup who was still excitedly hard at work, her tail unconsciously swinging side to side. "I'm heading out, Hiccup! See you at the academy!"

"Okay! Have fun!" Hiccup called back, not looking up from her work.

000

It was now late morning and Astrid was still waiting up on a cliff she and her brother had agreed to meet. She thought about leaving, figuring the mutton head must have forgotten when she saw the distinct figure of a Midnight Nadder and heard the sound of a girl's laughter. As Shadowstar passed, she was greeted with the sight of Aric and Heather flying by, the two having a blast.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me."

A little later that day the teens were in the academy still waiting for Aric. Hiccup didn't want to start until everyone was there, and evidently Aric had promised to be there earlier that morning. Hookfang was becoming increasingly antsy and impatient, however, pacing around and irritably shooting little bursts of fire at his rider wanting to just do something.

"Hookfang! Will you just _calm down_ ", Snotlout said getting frustrated with his dragon.

The Nightmare's response was a burst of smoke from Hookfang's nostrils in Snotlout's face.

"Are we training or not?" Snotlout irritably asked Hiccup as Astrid spotted whom they had been waiting for.

"Yes. Once we're all here", Hiccup responded. "Where is he?" she added under her breath. "Hey Astrid, do you know where Aric is?"

"Giving a private lesson", she sarcastically and pointedly said gesturing to the Midnight Nadder flying by with Heather riding behind Aric.

"What?! I didn't know he gave private lessons?! Can anybody get in on that?" Fishlegs asked, not getting the sarcasm.

"I thought he was going racing with you? Not going on a joy ride with Heather?" Hiccup asked Astrid.

"Nope. _Apparently_ he would rather hang out with _her_ ", Astrid replied, her eyes narrowing. _'How could he be so inconsiderate?'_

"They…sure look like they're having fun up there", Hiccup said slowly with a slight tone of sadness as she heard their laughter.

"Uh-oh! Looks like there's another hen in the rooster house", Ruffnut butted in.

"Uh-oh, yeah. Another rooster in the hen house. Wait what?" Tuffnut now asked confused.

"Oh, nothing. She just thinks I'm jealous", Hiccup answered nonchalantly, shrugging and turning around to face them. "Which I'm not", she then added, her tone nervous and abrupt.

"Oh, right, right. Wait of who? Of me?! Wait, am I the rooster or the hen?"

"Please, the last thing I am is jealous. Heh…" she replied still unconvincingly. "I don't look jealous, do I?" she then quickly whispered to Astrid side stepping near her.

Astrid grunted then stated with an annoyed tone, "At this point you have every right to be."

After she answered, Aric finally entered into the academy landing with Heather still on Shadowstar's back with him. "Hey, guys."

"Oh, nice of you to show up", Astrid said with her arms crossed, still angry with her brother. Hiccup just stood by her awkwardly.

"What?" Aric replied confused. "Oh…! We were supposed to meet up. I'm _so_ sorry."

There was a silence as Astrid kept her passive aggressive stance and Hiccup's eyes drifted down with the feeling of awkwardness filling the area.

"Awkward…" Snotlout sung.

"Ohhh! Hiccup is jealous of the pretty one! Right?!" Tuffnut said, his sister nodding. "Why talk about hens and roosters?" Ruffnut inwardly groaned, her brother having lost understanding.

"So, Heather, sleep well?" Astrid asked still with an edge to her tone. The girl hadn't returned till late in the night. And while Heather might have thought she was sleeping Astrid heard everything, waiting till she had come back.

"Very well. Thank you Astrid", Heather innocently lied.

Astrid glared at her, and Heather reared back a little disturbed.

"So, this is it?" Heather said trying to relieve the tension. "Your dragon training academy."

Thankful for the change in discussion, and still frazzled over Ruffnut's insinuation of her being jealous when there was nothing to be jealous of,Hiccup gladly responded. "We've been training the dragons to be part of our everyday lives", she said walking up to Heather.

"And it all goes right in here", Fishlegs added in holding the Book of Dragons.

"Really. Everything", Heather responded.

"Mmm, yep. I'm kind of the Log Keeper. Log Master, really."

"He writes down what Hiccup tells him to", Snotlout butted in shoving the boy a bit.

"I give it my own spin, thank you."

"Can I see it?" Heather asked about to reach for it.

"I'll take that, thank you!" Astrid shoved her way in, grasping the book before Heather could get her grubby little hands on it. "Excuse us", she then said grabbing Hiccup's arm and tugging her away to one of the opened cages to talk more privately. Once inside she let her arm go.

"Hiccup, I don't think we should be showing her all our dragon secrets."

"Astrid. It's fine."

"I just don't trust her. You shouldn't either."

"Well, I do."

"That's not what it looked like a few minutes ago."

Hiccup's eyes widened with nervousness her face getting slightly red.

"I… am… _not_ jealous. What's there to be jealous about?" she said nervously coupled with a nervous laugh backing away and back to the group.

"Hiccup", Astrid groaned, the girl completely missing the point having been reminded of what Ruffnut said.

"Nope. Not jealous!" she said again still backing away further.

"She's totally jealous", Tuffnut snickered to Ruffnut and Fishlegs.

"Am not!" Hiccup shouted back, causing the three to look up.

Astrid face palmed while Aric and Heather looked to each other with confusion. "Uh, was there something we missed?" Aric asked utterly lost.

000

Heather had decided if Astrid wouldn't let her look at the book then she'd have to learn about dragons through the untrusting girl's brother and friends. It was easy enough seeing how she practically had them all wrapped around her little finger.

"So, Mr. Fishlegs, Log Master of the Book of Dragons… I can call you that. Can't I?" Heather began as she stood with Fishlegs and his Gronckle the very next morning.

"Absolutely."

"Tell me, what would one find in the Book of Dragons about the… magnificent Gronckle."

"Well the Gronckle is a member of the Boulder Class of dragons. 14 feet long, 18 foot wingspan, 5,724 pounds of pure love", he said hugging Meatlug.

Her head went down looking flattered but embarrassed.

"Come on girl don't be shy", Fishlegs told her.

Heather slightly laughed. "She's so cute. But, how does she perform in battle?"

"Well, feel her skin." Heather did so as he continued. "It's thick, impenetrable like armor."

Fishlegs than threw a rock to prove his point. The rock ended up bouncing off her hide and into his face. "OW! It's also quite springy."

"W-what about her tail? Looks like it could be a weapon", Heather inquired.

"Oh, it is. Tough, bulbous, deadly. It can even be used as a bludgeon."

"Ooohh. She sounds so fierce."

"Oh, she's fierce alright; on the outside. But inside, she's as soft as a bed of rose petals. Aren't ya, my little baby?"

Next, she went to Tuffnut and Ruffnut whom Tuffnut kicked aside so Heather could focus on him. It was rather adorably stupid.

"So Tuff, tell me how this works again?" she asked as she sat on Barf, Ruffnut's half of the dragon, on the docks.

"Okay, _you_ yank on _his_ head, he barfs out this really nasty gas, and _I_ spark it. But, don't breathe it in."

"Why not?"

"You don't want to know", he said slowly. "Just give me the signal."

"What's the signal?" she asked softly.

"Oh, man, I always forget that…"

"How 'bout… Fire?"

"Wow! You're really good at this. Much better than my sister, who we could easily get rid of by the way. I mean, easily", Tuffnut said bringing his head of the dragon closer. "You know, she looks a lot like me. Sometimes I impersonate both of us."

"Yeah", she said disturbed. "Why don't we focus on the task at hand?"

"Right. Okay, ready?!"

"Ready", Heather replied her head in position for the target.

"Signal! I mean, darn. Fire!"

Heather pulled, the head letting out his gas, and Tuffnut sparked sending a fire ball over the target and hitting a passing ship instead.

"Wha-what do we do now?!" she asked.

"Usually we hide till the chief finds us. Then we get in trouble", Tuffnut answered all too cheerfully.

Next, she went to Snotlout who she found to be the most annoying. Instead of trying to please her like the other two boys, or just be her friend like Aric, Snotlout only cared about himself and what he wanted to talk about or do. She could see he had a massive ego, so she decided to add to it a little to get him talking about the Monstrous Nightmare.

"I have to say Snotlout, your dragon is the most impressive."

"Yeah, I know. So let's talk about you and me. You never did get to thank me for saving your life", Snotlout said, once again dodging the subject she wanted to talk about. She decided to play along, if only a little.

"You're right. Thank you Snotlout… So, how much does he weigh exactly?"

"Well him? 5,000 pounds give or take. He's monstrous. Remember, sort of like his rider. So tour of the island? You and me? What do you say?"

"Actually, Aric took me on Shadowstar. It was beautiful", she dejectedly replied. "So Snotlout, how does this whole fire thing work with Hookfang?"

"It's his spit. It coats his body. That's what lights him on fire, okay?!" he said clearly getting frustrated. "Between you and me", he unfortunately continued beginning to rub the spit on himself. "I use it on date night. The ladies seem to _love_ the smell."

"Can he flame up on command?"

"Oh he can. But he won't. Pig-headed dragon."

Hookfang didn't appear to like the last comment deciding to light his rider's pants on fire, and Heather gasped unable to say anything.

"He-he-he, could you give me a moment? Ahh! Just one minute!" he screamed running to a trough with water.

"Take as much as you need!" _'Please.'_

Lastly was Hiccup, and Heather was afraid Hiccup would be harder to win over like Astrid seeing as she couldn't use her innocent and pretty girl routine. Not to mention Hiccup might have thought she was getting in between her and Aric by her spending too much time with him. By Hiccup's whole 'not jealous' episode and the way Aric spoke of her, Heather pretty much gathered Hiccup and Aric had something going on but didn't want to admit it or were too scared to.

The surprising thing was that gaining her trust turned out to be easier than expected. Hiccup was understanding of what had happened the previous morning and even explained that it was all Ruffnut who simply got in her head. She was actually happy to talk about dragons, and more specifically, the Night Fury. In fact, perhaps a little too happy. Every question about the Night Fury she answered completely and strangely joyfully.

When asked about herself as a Halfling, however, Hiccup didn't give much information and was even hesitant about it. She just explained a few things that she could do. Heather wasn't sure if Hiccup was keeping some things to herself or not, but it was defiantly a change in mood when they had switched to her. If thought about, it actually made sense for Hiccup to want to happily answer her about dragons but not really herself. Hiccup probably didn't trust her enough to tell her all her secrets. She hadn't even gone into much useful detail about the Night Fury. But still, it seemed Hiccup didn't really have anyone to talk to or geek out about dragons besides Fishlegs. And even then, there was nothing to teach because Fishlegs seemed to know more about dragons than even her.

Heather actually thought it was kind of sad. Once this was all over Heather thought maybe she could return to Berk and Hiccup and her could be friends. Hiccup would have someone new to talk to and teach about dragons, and Heather would just have a friend. Truth be told, Heather didn't have many friends. She tended to close herself off and kept mostly to herself. No one in her village knew why and she wasn't even sure if _she_ knew the answer.

Now all was left was for her to know about the Deadly Nadder. She'd asked Aric about it, but he could only tell her so much having only half of one, much like with the Night Fury. Nadders were really his sister's specialty, he had told her. That was a problem. Astrid didn't trust her, and never would. She would have to get that book, but Astrid kept it hidden in her room and unless she could sneak up there without the girl seeing, she wouldn't be getting very close to it.

Luck was on her side, however, because right before Hiccup left she said she was meeting up with Astrid. Astrid was to be out with Hiccup testing Toothless' new tail and when Heather came up to the house, Aric was outside playing with Shadowstar. She couldn't have asked for a better opportunity. Quietly, she slipped into the house and went up to Astrid's room, which much like Hiccup's, sat on the loft above. Heather looked in Astrid's satchel, but found nothing. Then, into a closet that sat near the bed; still nothing. She thought for a moment when her eyes caught something under Astrid's bed.

"Ah-ha. Got ya. The Book of Dragons", she whispered, still wary of being caught.

Heather took out the book and sat by the bed. She looked back to see if Astrid would be coming, but there was nothing but silence. She turned back to the book and began flipping the pages.

"Monstrous Nightmare, Gronckle… Here we go. The Deadly Nadder. Piercing spines, loyal, powerful—"

"Intelligent, and of course deadly", Astrid's voice finished.

Heather gasped and turned around to find the girl standing right there.

"What do you think you're doing?" Astrid sternly said, and all Heather could do was stare as she was caught.

000

Astrid had come home seeing Aric playing with Shadowstar, but she saw no Heather. And she knew for a fact the girl wasn't with the others, as she had just come back from hanging out with Hiccup and running into them. Astrid quietly opened the door to the house and went upstairs as quietly as possible hearing the voice of a girl reading. She knew it was Heather reading the Book of Dragons and as she got closer, she was proven correct as she heard the descriptions of the Deadly Nadder.

"…loyal, powerful—" Heather was whispering, until Astrid decided to interrupt and make her presence known.

"Intelligent, and of course deadly. What do you think you're doing?"

Heather had no answer, just staring in shock and freight.

"Aric! Come up here now!" Astrid then yelled.

"Astrid?! What?! What's going on now?" Aric complained as he made his way up stairs. He was getting tired of her hatred of Heather, she knew, but she had every right to not trust the girl. There just wasn't something right about her. Especially since she'd been sneaking around.

"I found Heather reading the Book of Dragons. And the only way was if she was snooping!" she accused keeping her arms crossed.

"What?" her brother said.

"Well Heather, are you gonna say something?"

"I am so, so sorry Astrid. I was only tiding up your room and I found the book. I couldn't help myself."

"Heather, it's okay—", Aric tried to reassure, but Astrid interrupted.

"It's okay? What do you mean okay? She's reading the Book of Dragons!"

"Astrid, come on, lighten up. What's gotten into you?"

"Me? What about you?! She's been sneaking around?! Looking at our stuff?!"

"Really? Sneaking around? What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the other night. Near the stables?"

"That was me", Heather confessed. "I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk. I was having terrible nightmares."

"I can imagine", Aric said.

Astrid couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was like she was the only one who could see Heather's lies. Aric, her own brother, a brother who tended to be the more skeptical one at that, had chosen Heather's lies over his sister's speculation of treachery from a girl they'd just met. Her little brother who, even only a year and close to two years younger than her, she'd sworn to protect was falling right into the chocolate scented trap of a Snaptrapper and he wouldn't let her save him.

"Is this really happening?" Astrid asked in complete disbelief.

"Alright, Astrid, that's enough!" Aric exclaimed fed up.

"You're right Aric it is", she angrily said, and then stormed down the stairs and out the house. She needed to go blow off steam.

000

Aric couldn't believe his sister. He couldn't understand why she hated Heather so much; the girl had done nothing wrong. She was just scared and alone, and it was understandable to why.

"I'm sorry about that", he apologized on Astrid's behalf.

"N-no! I'm sorry. I was wrong to look at your book."

It's no big deal. I trust you", he replied putting it back underneath Astrid's bed. He should return it to Hiccup, but he wanted Astrid to do it. She was the one who had taken custody of it in the first place. Then again, Hiccup would probably want it back by now. She liked to do nightly work on it, always updating what she can. If Astrid didn't do it by tonight then he would.

000

Astrid was back from her sword fight with the trees when she spotted a familiar Snaptrapper in Stormfly's stable feeding and petting her.

"What are you doing with my dragon?!" Astrid exclaimed startling Heather once again.

"Huh. You really like to sneak up on people", Heather replied with an edge to her tone, her overly soft voice gone.

"Only the ones who deserve it. And _don't_ give me your innocent routine."

"I wouldn't think of it. You're way too smart for that, Astrid."

Stormfly then nudged Heather's back and Heather turned to pet her snout, Stormfly happy and trusting of the girl. Heather turned to give Astrid a smirk and Astrid bristled with it.

"I think your dragon likes me", Heather said as she went beside Astrid. "See you later, Stormfly."

Once Heather left, Stormfly was still happy and didn't hold a single sign of being on her side against Heather. "Really? Where's the loyalty?!" She was furious again and even though she had just come from her sword fight with the trees in the forest it was time for a round two.

000

Heather was upstairs in Astrid's room as Aric and his parents cleaned up dinner. She watched as they did so for a little, and then knowing she wouldn't be spotted this time, looked under the bed to grab the book.

"What? No, no, no."

The book was gone.

' _Astrid couldn't have come up here and grabbed it. Could she?'_

She decided to look downstairs to see if anyone in the house could have taken it for some reason. What she found was that Aric had it and she spotted him heading out the door with it most likely going to give it back to Hiccup or Fishlegs.

"Great. Now what?" she muttered.

000

In the forest Astrid slashed every tree she saw furiously. Several trees had numerous marks but that mattered very little to her.

"Ugh! I think your dragon likes me", she mocked as she slashed another trunk. "Argh! No one messes with me and my friends. And especially _not_ my family!"

She then heard rustling in the bushes and immediately she stopped, going still and quiet behind a tree. She spied from it and saw Heather walk by unaware of Astrid watching her every move. Going from tree to tree she followed until she came upon a ledge. Down below was the beach and from a boulder she saw Heather just sit on a rock and stare out into the sea. Astrid waited for a few moments until she began to think that maybe Heather was really just thinking out there.

"This is stupid", she said realizing that she might have just been over reacting. She was about to turn and head back home when she noticed something coming up to shore.

"That's an Outcast boat." A man came out of the boat and walked up to Heather and Astrid saw that it was none other than, "Savage."

Astrid couldn't hear what they were saying, and at that moment she wished Hiccup were with her, but if Heather was working with the Outcasts it was probably nothing good. She tried to get in closer to hear at least something, but when she moved Astrid knocked down some rocks from the ledge making a noise that could have alerted them that someone was watching. She quickly hid behind the boulder before they could have had the chance to see her. She waited until she thought they wouldn't be looking in her direction and then peaked out to see the two leaving. She left as well bolting from the boulder and to the house to Aric. He had to believe her now.

Astrid didn't waste any time trying to be nice. She barged into her brother's room and shoved him hard accidentally pushing him off the bed.

"Wake up", she harshly said as she did so.

"Ow! Why would you do that?! What are you doing?!" he complained from the floor.

"Saving our butts! I just saw Heather talking to Savage. She's working with the _Outcasts_ ", she replied hushed as it was still night and their parents were asleep.

"What? She's upstairs sleeping? As you should be, by the way."

"Upstairs huh? Well then, let's go find out."

She led the boy upstairs expecting to see two empty beds, but what she found was Heather right where her brother said she'd be. _'How? But she was just—? How did she beat me?!'_

The girl turned pretending to yawn and to have just woken up from them walking in. "Oh, hey guys? Is everything okay?" Heather asked with that stupid innocent routine.

"Yes, Heather. Everything is fine", Aric said, an edge to his tone towards Astrid.

He took her outside so they could talk without disrupting Heather or their parents' rest. "Astrid, don't you think it's possible you saw something else?" Aric said as they walked down a few steps outside their house. "I mean, it's pretty dark out there."

"I know what I saw. The girl is _not_ who you think she _is_!" she said desperately.

"So who is she then?!"

"I-I don't know! _Nobody_ knows! She just _mysteriously_ washed up on our beach. You don't find that strange?"

"No! Because, her ship was taken over by pirates. Her whole island is under siege!"

"The only thing under siege is your _brain_. You're not thinking clearly."

"Oh really, _me_?" Aric then got a look that he had thought of something. "Fine then. Then why don't we ask someone who does!"

"Good! And then we'll see what she thinks of your little _girlfriend_."

000

Hiccup and Toothless were both peacefully sleeping, each in their own beds, when suddenly she was woken up from being hit with a pebble.

"Hiccup! Hiccup, wake up!" she heard hushed voices yelling at her.

Hiccup looked out her window and saw both Astrid and Aric outside waving her down. She looked back to see Toothless still asleep, and then jumped out and landed in front of them to see what was wrong.

"Guys, what are you doing? Don't you realize it's the middle of the night?"

"Exactly! And I just saw Heather talking with Savage. I told you we couldn't trust her!" Astrid said.

"Working with Savage? What? Heather?" Hiccup asked confused. "No, Astrid, it had to have been something else."

"You too?" Astrid asked in desperation.

"Heather's a good person. She's just been through a lot. And besides, if she was working for the Outcasts why would she help me build Toothless a new tail for better speed? Hmm? Seems a little counterproductive don't you think?"

"Unless she's got a bigger goal? Like at being a sneaky little spy?!"

"Astrid, that's enough", Aric intervened.

"No, _you_ , stay out of this! Hiccup, you can't be seriously taking a stranger's side over mine!"

"I'm sorry, Astrid, but—"

"Hiccup! The Outcasts could be attacking any minute!"

"Astrid, if there's one thing I know it's this. _Heather_ is _not_ working for the _Outcasts_."

Astrid stormed off absolutely fuming and Hiccup, feeling bad, stepped up to maybe console her in some way, but Aric stopped her placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Just let her cool off."

The next morning Hiccup woke up to find the Book of Dragons gone from her room. She looked everywhere she would have put it, but it was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, Toothless, have you seen the book?"

 **"No? I thought that was your job? Did you really lose it?"**

"Ugh, never mind."

Hiccup went down stairs to see if she maybe placed it somewhere down there, but still she couldn't find it.

"Hiccup? What are doing?" her father asked as he watched her searching.

"I'm looking for the book. Have you seen it?"

"You'll have to be more specific, dear."

"The Book of Dragons. I can't find it anywhere."

Her dad didn't get the chance to answer, because the door suddenly slammed open with Astrid behind it.

"She's gone!" Astrid exclaimed.

"Heather?" Hiccup asked.

"No! Stormfly! Little miss _innocent_ stole my dragon!"

Hiccup was stunned. _'I was… wrong?'_

000

This is bad, this is bad, this is bad. This is catastrophic!" Fishlegs worried as they were saddling up to chase Heather down. "I-if Alvin gets that book—"

"He won't", Hiccup interrupted. "Heather. I can't believe it", she then muttered to herself unable to believe she couldn't see it. Heather was playing them all for fools the whole time. Was her sweet and soft personality just an act? She should have seen it. The girl was far too interested in dragons; she should have seen it was rather suspicious, but she'd just assumed she found someone like her. _'How could I have been so stupid?!'_

"How could I have been so stupid?!" Aric said on Shadowstar, taking the words right out from her thoughts. "Right under my nose the whole time. How could I have not seen it?"

"Because your _brain_ was under _siege_ ", Tuffnut answered, ready on his dragon as well.

"Do you even know what that means?"

"Yes. No. It's not good right?"

"No. It's _not_ good", Astrid said climbing onto Toothless to ride with Hiccup and glaring at Aric.

"Astrid look—"

"Save it! You can apologize once we get me my dragon back."

"Alright let's go!" Hiccup called as she climbed into the saddle. "We can't let her reach Outcast Island."

They flew for the better part of the day trying to catch up, but as the sun was beginning to set they still couldn't catch sight of Stormfly and Heather.

"We're never gonna catch her. Stormfly is too fast", Astrid said.

"When you're riding her? Defiantly. _Not_ with a stranger", Hiccup replied.

"What's that?! Up ahead!" Snotlout called.

"It's Heather! And is she ever gonna be sorry she helped me with Toothless' speed."

Hiccup clicked the tail fin open, and Toothless burst forward with more speed at his disposal. They closed in rather quickly and were now side by side with the girl. When she saw them, she glared with anger.

"I'll get you in close!" Hiccup told Astrid, before Heather did the unexpected and threw a chicken leg to Stormfly. "I-is that chicken? Is that what you've been—?!"

"Really?! You want to talk about that now?!"

Stormfly forged on ahead, and Toothless chased her down trying to close in again.

 **"Hey! Stormfly what are you doing?! Don't you know that's a traitor?!"** Toothless roared.

 **"Hey, free food is free food! And I don't sense any danger with her!"**

 **"** **"What?!" "** Toothless and Hiccup both exclaimed.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked.

"Nothing. I'm gonna pull right above her!" Hiccup replied over the wind.

They went up until they were high above the Nadder and then dived towards her, leveling out when they were right above them.

"Okay, okay! Hold him steady!" Astrid jumped off Toothless and onto Stormfly right behind where Heather sat. "Going somewhere?" she rhetorically asked.

In retaliation Heather shoved Astrid off, and Astrid flew back, catching herself by Stormfly's tail and hanging on for dear life. "Stormfly, tail-flip!" Stormfly did as told seeing her rider in danger and flung her tail up launching Astrid back onto the Nadder's back and onto Heather as well as in attack.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Tuffnut said as the two struggled and fought on Stormfly's back.

"Uh, Hiccup? I really hate to be the voice of doom, but we just crossed into Outcast waters", Fishlegs warned.

Hiccup looked down at the ocean seeing all the sharp rocks littering the ocean now, and knew their time was running short.

"Hey, Astrid, you might want to move this along!" Aric warned.

"Ugh! Give me a minute! She's stronger than she looks!" Astrid responded still struggling with Heather.

The Outcasts began firing flaming boulders at them, the danger only increasing tenfold.

"Uh, Astrid?" Hiccup called.

Heather was now holding Astrid in a head lock, and Astrid was struggling to get her off. She pushed and shoved back, hitting her and prying her off as she said with fury, "Don't you _ever_ come near _my family again_!" With one last hit, she shoved her off her back hard and accidentally pushed too hard knocking the girl and the book off the dragon and to their deaths on the rocky ocean below. Astrid reached out for Heather having not intended to kill her, but it was too late, she was too far.

"I'm going after the girl!" Snotlout said.

"I'm going after the book!" Hiccup also said.

The two then raced off to catch their targets.

"Got ya!" Snotlout cried as he caught Heather. "Knew you couldn't stay away."

"Come on bud, we need to get that book!" Hiccup said as she and Toothless dived down to catch it. The book was just in reach heading for the island, flaming boulders still being fired all around them. She reached out, not allowing Alvin's hands to possibly get hold of it. "Come on. Come on, come on, come on! Ugh! Come on bud! Just a little more!"

She almost was almost able to grab hold of it when the wind blew it in another direction and they were met with a flaming boulder flying right at them. Hiccup had to retract her hand and help Toothless swerve out of the way. They kept chasing the book down, but the book was just falling closer and closer to the island, and the closer they got in range, the closer they came to being hit. Toothless swerved left and right trying to evade them but it was becoming too difficult and Hiccup was even grazed by one, the fire eating through her sleeve. Luckily it had hit a part of her arm covered in a patch of scales so it didn't burn too bad.

 **"We have to retreat, Hiccup! We're not gonna get it!"**

Hiccup sighed, and relented pulling back and turning around in retreat. The Outcasts below cheered in victory as she had to break the bad news to everyone.

"Please tell me you got it?" Fishlegs asked.

"I was too late. Alvin has the book of dragons."

000

Once the riders had reached Berk they had had Heather put in prison and everyone went home for the night. Aric felt awful as he looked across the dinner table at Astrid. She was just trying to be a good sister, and he'd instead trusted a complete stranger.

"Astrid, I'm sorry. I was a complete idiot. You have every right to make fun of me, call me what ever you want, and hit me as much as you want for the next month."

Somehow, he'd made Astrid smile a bit. He knew she wasn't going to really do all those things. Well, maybe a little, but not to the degree he had implied. She probably found it funny, his little jokes always finding a way to make her laugh.

"Well, its a start", she said.

000

 _A sibling's relationship is a complicated one. Astrid and Aric have always had this sort of push and pull dynamic that seems to work. I know no matter what's thrown at them that may seem to split the duo, they'll always make up in the end. That's just the strength of a sibling's bond, and especially the strength of theirs._

* * *

 **I was originally gonna put both parts in as one, but I'm already on pg 21 and pretty tired. I've also realized these part one and twos in Riders/Defenders of Berk aren't like in Race to the Edge. It's not as easy to just go from one episode to another as the episodes are different and have different plots to them. While in Race to the Edge they just start off from where they left off, Riders of Berk didn't do that. Looks like we're getting 16 episodes/chapters. I'll see you next week with part 2.**


	9. Heather Report (Part 2)

_**Heather Report Part 2**_

 _Yesterday was a dark day; especially one for Astrid, Aric, and me. Aric and I were both foolish and stupid, allowing a girl's act to completely fool us. We didn't listen to Astrid when we clearly should have; Aric as a brother, and me as a friend and leader. I should have been better at both. I should have been more watchful and skeptic. I should have been more open minded. But what's done is done and I can't change the past. Now, all we can do is fix our mistake. We have to get that book back. There's just no other option._

000

Heather ran as fast as her feet could carry her through the forest trying to escape Aric and Shadowstar. She had to get off this island; there was no other option for her. The riders had no idea what was going on. They had no idea of the consequences of her not returning. She made it to shore at last and even saw a dingy. It wasn't an ideal option, but at this point Heather was desperate. She ran to the small boat, and almost made it, when she was interrupted by a blast of fire; the explosion propelled her back and destroyed the boat.

"You can break out of jail as _many_ times as you want, but you're _not_ getting off this island!" Aric yelled down with anger evident in his voice. Shadowstar swooped down and grabbed her in her claws and Heather was once again taken back to her cell.

Back at the wooden prison, Aric harshly pushed her in and slammed the door shut. "Just give it up Heather. We have _dragons_. Remember?"

"Aric, I have to get back to Outcast Island", Heather pleaded with desperation in her voice.

"Yeah, I bet _you do_ ", he replied harshly.

"You don't understand! Alvin has my parents!"

Aric's arms crossed and his eyes narrowed. "Oh, yeah? What happened to the pirates?"

She sighed. "There were never any pirates. I made the whole thing up. But, I had to! I needed you to trust me!"

"Well guess what. We don't", he replied. Aric turned to walk away again, and then said with his eyes narrowing in the same anger, "Not anymore."

000

He didn't know how it happened, but a rectangular shaped thing with a symbol on it fell from the sky and into his yellow Gronckle claws. He didn't know what it was, but the one thing he did know was that it was his. And now, some humans were just staring at him.

"Uh, is—uh, is that the book?" one of the large humans asked.

"Looks like", another answered.

They wanted his treasure; a 'book' they kept calling it. Well, whatever it was called, there was no way he would give them his claim. That's not how things worked. He unfurled his wings and growled as they kept eyeing it.

"The only question is", the same human continued. "How we gonna get to it?"

"Uh, if we had the dragon book maybe it would tell us what to do."

"You mean…that book?"

"Ahh…right."

As the humans kept chatting the Gronckle relaxed a bit and had decided to clean his claws. It seemed this would take a while. He never understood why humans talked so much.

"The husky, smart kid rides one of these dragons. They're very gentle", the least large of the four men spoke once more. He appeared to be their leader with how much smarter he was than his colleagues. The man next to him was clearly not too bright, and the other two were just standing there.

"So, go take it from him", he continued. With that statement the Gronckle looked up from his grooming. The man didn't move.

 **"Will you just do something already? I'm bored!"** he exclaimed getting tired of this game of stare-at-the-dragon's-treasure.

"What are you waiting for? It's just one little dragon? Go!"

"Uh, hello there, dragon."

 **"Oh, you've finally decided to move"** , the Gronckle said as he stopped scratching his back side and looked up at the human coming closer to him.

"Now, if you wouldn't mind, I would just like to borrow your book", he said slowly, moving in closer, and reaching for his 'book' as the humans called it.

The Gronckle wouldn't have any of that. He put his paw down on the book, not allowing the human to get his fat paws on it, and growled.

 **"This! Is! Mine!"** he roared, and then attacked. When he was done, and the man stopped screaming, he knew the human wouldn't ever be taking his book again.

"Ooh…that didn't work. Who's next?" the leader asked. His other two soldiers wouldn't budge, so he moved in himself figuring he'd have to do it. The Gronckle crouched at the ready. There was absolutely no way he was giving up his claim without a fight.

000

Training for when they made their move on Outcast Island for the book, the teens were in the academy practicing their strategies and counter attacks. Snotlout launched a fairly sized stone at Fishlegs and Meatlug who were slowly flying by. The rock was just about to hit them when Meatlug turned in time and ate it instead.

"Hey! That was a little close, Snotlout!" Fishlegs complained.

"Quit whining, Fishlegs!" Snotlout mocked in return.

In retaliation Fishlegs had Meatlug shoot at Snotlout. He thankfully dodged out of the way in time.

"Hey, cut it out!"

"Quit whining, Snotlout!" Fishlegs replied copying Snotlout's mock.

"Nice job, guys", Hiccup said, not caring for the two's bickering and instead seeing it as training. "But, remember, the Outcasts aren't gonna be coming one at a time."

"You don't need to remind me. We are under enough stress", Fishlegs said.

"Remember, we're only gonna have one shot at getting the Book of Dragons back", Hiccup continued.

"Um, did I not make myself clear about the stress?" Fishlegs said.

He did, but Hiccup didn't care. They were _all_ stressed. No one liked the risks and dangers of going into enemy territory; he was just gonna have to deal with it.

The twins swooped down with their Zippleback's gas and sparked it causing the line of gas to ignite. The trail of gas had made its way to Hookfang incidentally, and when it ignited, he became spooked flaming up.

"Too early, Snotlout! We have to time it perfectly!" Astrid told him.

"It wasn't me, it was them!" Snotlout retorted.

"Uh, sorry", Ruffnut said.

"Heh, yeah. Still working out the kinks", Tuffnut added, followed by a quiet laugh to his sister.

Aric flew in to join them, and Astrid turned to him. "Where have you been?" she asked as he landed.

"Detaining Heather. Again. Swear that girl is more persistent than Meatlug when she sees her favorite rock. Even tried lying about her parents again saying Alvin was keeping them hostage", Aric replied.

"Well I'll give Alvin credit for one thing. He sure knows how to pick his compulsive liars."

Hookfang was still on fire, roaring in his little rampage, and Aric was starting to get irritated with it. "Can you calm him down?!"

"Fine. Whatever", Snotlout said before marching up to Hookfang and taking his horns, pinning them to the ground. His dragon stopped and calmed immediately. "Figured that one out yesterday. He likes it."

"Wait, wait, wait. He _likes_ having his horns bent to the ground?" Fishlegs questioned.

"Tuffnut does", Ruffnut stated.

"I do?" her brother questioned.

To prove it, she tackled him grabbing hold of the horns of his helmet and pinning his head to the ground.

"Oh yeah. That does feel kinda nice. The dirt's soft."

"Can we get _on_ with it! There could be a _whole_ army coming at us!" Aric irritably said becoming impatient. No one could say he was always the calmest person, but he'd been especially on edge as of late. It was understandable why too; at least to Hiccup and Astrid. Out of everyone, he felt he was the biggest idiot. And out of everyone, he hated being made a fool of the most.

"Well? We're waiting?" Snotlout replied getting sick of the boy's attitude.

Aric signaled Shadowstar to fly up, as well as Astrid with Stormfly, and Snotlout told Hookfang, "Hit it!" signaling him to shoot a stream of fire creating a wall of fire in the academy.

"Spines, Shadowstar!"

"Stormfly, Spineshot!"

The two shot their spines, throwing them through the fire, which created flaming spines that stuck to the wall behind the fire. One had hit Tuffnut as well, sticking into his helmet.

"Huh, kinda like that too. Make a note", he told Ruffnut.

"That's gonna work great", Hiccup commented, now standing with Fishlegs.

"You know all this training is nice once we have the book, but Alvin's not just gonna hand it over to us", the boy pointed out.

"No, but maybe Alvin will hand it to Heather?" Astrid suggested coming up to the two.

"Uh… I think Astrid's been eating Dragon Nip again", Fishlegs non-discreetly whispered. "Ow!" he then exclaimed as Astrid punched him in the stomach. "Why is it always violence with you?!"

"It's not violence, it's communication", Astrid light heartedly defended.

"So you're suggesting that we just let Heather go?" Aric questioned next to her.

"Sort of", Astrid semi-confirmed.

"Yep. Dragon Nip", Fishlegs said, before another punch came to his gut again.

000

Savage had come back to Alvin with the book successfully retrieved, spare for the several burns. Alvin stared at his helmet befuddled by the way it was glowing.

"What's that on your helmet?" he asked as he touched the top of Savage's helmet, burned his finger, and then quickly retracted it.

"Lava. Gronckle chapter. You might want to read it."

"Hm… This is all very interesting", Alvin said taking the book and looking the pages turned to over. "Ha! I'll have to see it to believe it." He then shut the book remembering something. "Where's the girl?"

"She was captured after she made the drop."

"How unfortunate for her", he said with little pity. "But hey, let's give this a try, shall we?"

It was time they knew how it was Berk trained dragons.

000

"Th-th-thi-this is going to work right?!" Fishlegs worried frantically as the teens loaded a boat. "'Cause i-i-if it doesn't work, Alvin's gonna know all of our dragon secrets!", he continued. "And if Alvin knows all our dragon secrets—!"

"Fishlegs!" Hiccup said stopping him, putting a hand on his shoulder to make him stop squirming with stress. "It'll work", she reassured. Hiccup turned her head to see who they had been waiting for coming to the boat, all dressed up and ready to go. "Oh, that must be—"

"Heather!" Ruffnut shouted.

"Get her! That rhymed!" Tuffnut followed.

They dropped their stuff and ran to attack, tackling the girl down and pinning her to the sand.

"You-must-stay-in-your-cell!" Tuffnut said as he struggled with his sister to keep her down. "How many times do we have to tell you—Argh!"

The girl punched them both in the face knocking them off. "It's _me_ , you _mutton_ heads!" Astrid exclaimed once free. She was dressed just like Heather; she had a wig of black hair that was braided just as Heather's, gotten cloths just like hers, and even fabricated a horn to place on her hip just like the one Heather carried.

"Oh, sorry Astrid. Totally unconvincing."

"Oh yeah, I could tell", she replied sarcastically.

Astrid got into the boat and was just about ready to set sail, when Aric came up.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"No. But it's our only chance."

"We'll be shadowing you from the sky."

"I _don't need_ shadowing."

"Just in case. You know… it'll make… Fishlegs feel better", he added on.

Astrid smiled a little. "Fine! Just stay out of sight. If Alvin sees you it'll be all over."

"Don't worry about us. Just get the book and get out of there. We'll be waiting", Hiccup said.

Fishlegs shoved the boat off the beach, and Astrid began to sail off.

"Hey, Astrid? Be safe", Aric said.

"You too", she said back as she sailed further off into the ocean.

"She'll be fine", Hiccup assured.

"I know", he replied, although there was still significant worry in his eyes.

They watched Astrid sail off hoping nothing would go wrong.

000

Heather lied in wait on the ceiling of her cell. Any moment now Bucket would bring her some dinner. She only waited a few more moments when she heard his voice.

"Anyone in here hungry? We've got a lovely cabbage soup tonight. Yummy", Bucket said cheerfully. She waited some more for him to think she wasn't in the cell, when finally she heard him speak again.

"Ah, not again! Stoick is gonna kill me!"

He walked inside muttering over and over, "Not good", when Heather dropped and knocked him out. Although he wore a bucket on his head, it apparently wasn't very protective. She dragged him further inside the cell, followed by closing the door on him.

"Sorry Bucket. But, I _have_ to get to Outcast Island. And _nothing_ is gonna stop me." With that said to the unconscious man, she fled to find a ride.

000

Astrid's boat had made it to Outcast waters, and as she neared the foggy island wild dragons that were clearly not used to gentle human contact flew over her boat roaring angrily, nearly toppling it over. None of them luckily attacked, but she defiantly got the feeling she wasn't welcome; both from the dragons, and the jagged island itself.

Getting to shore, she hopped off the boat and looked at her map once more to see where exactly she was on the island. She looked all around her to get her bearings, but everything pretty much looked the same. She turned to the ocean and backed up a little hoping she could figure out where she had landed.

"We thought you'd been captured?" Savage's voice suddenly spoke from behind her. It caused her to gasp and suddenly turn around.

There were several Outcasts, all with crossbows pointed at her, behind Savage on the rocky hill. One slip up and it was over. She placed her hands on the wig, discreetly making sure it was secure, and then spoke with a disguised voice. She made her voice higher than normal, for some reason also speaking louder.

"I was. But I got away."

It wasn't how Heather talked, but if the Outcasts couldn't notice Heather had a slimmer body than she did, or the fact that Heather had green eyes as opposed to her blue, then they probably wouldn't notice the difference in her voice either. Hiccup would have been the better candidate for impersonating her, if it wasn't for the wings ad tail. The girls were pretty much betting on the fact Outcasts weren't known for being very perceptive.

Savage came closer as if inspecting her. It made her heart skip a beat in fright thinking he might have noticed something off. "Well, it's good to see you safe and sound", he then said relaxing her nerves. That is until he turned to the men behind him. "Get rid of her."

"What?!"

"We don't need you anymore."

"Savage, wait!" Astrid exclaimed, thinking quickly for a way in. "You _do_ need me! I can prove it! You have the book, right? I've watched them, I've learned from them. Trust me. That book is only worth something if you know how to use it."

He looked down at her, and she just wore a thin smile knowing he wouldn't kill her, or rather Heather, now.

000

"I want to go on record as saying, I'm not so sure about this plan, Hiccup", Fishlegs said as they flew to Outcast Island carrying baskets of fish.

Hiccup turned to him looking a little annoyed. He'd been questioning, stressing, and worrying all night, and Fishlegs was beginning to think it was starting to get on her nerves. But could anyone really blame him for worrying; the plan wasn't exactly fool proof. There were so many variables, so many opportunities, for things to go wrong. At any moment Alvin could see behind Astrid's disguise, and then she'd be dead, or tortured. He was actually a little surprised Aric had agreed to the girls' plan. But, then again, this was the same guy who agreed to Hiccup's completely dangerous and half-baked plan of defeating the Red Death, so he shouldn't have been too surprised.

Fishlegs wasn't just worried about Astrid, though. He was also worried about their well-being. They were coming up to Outcast Island where the wild angry dragons laid and if that didn't call for worry he didn't know what did.

Nevertheless, despite Hiccup's clear annoyance, her face softened and she answered calmly. "If you have another one I'm open", she said rhetorically.

"I just think landing in a wild dragon nesting ground is _really_ gonna freak Meatlug out." _'And by Meatlug, I mean me.'_

"Really? Well then how does she feel about flaming arrows and catapults?"

"Uh, yeah, she really doesn't like those either."

"Oh, you don't say?" she continued in the same sarcastic tone.

"Look, Fishlegs, if you're not up for this you can always turn back", Aric said.

"Tell you what _Fishlegs_ ", Snotlout butted in, "When we get there you just lay back and let the _real_ dragons do the work."

"Yeah, you really have no idea what a swarm of angry wild dragons are capable of", Fishlegs responded, not willing to bail for fear of disappointment, but willing to defend his worries.

"You know what would be awesome?" Tuffnut then started, much to Fishlegs' dismay.

"Flaming arrows, catapults," Ruffnut listed.

"" _And_ wild dragons"", the two then finished together.

"That makes three of you", he shakily replied.

000

With Astrid's bluff, Savage took her to Alvin. He sat in his throne and briefly looked through the book, untrusting of her words.

"Hmm, seems pretty straight forward to me", he said.

"It's anything but straight forward, Alvin", Astrid pressed on.

"If there's one thing I've learned, it's that people will say _anything_ to keep themselves alive. Isn't that right, _Savage_?"

"Right! A-as usual, Alvin", he replied fearfully, solidifying Alvin's words.

"Ha-ha. See? Now you say I need you to interpret what's in this book." Alvin stood up and walked up to her. "To use it properly. I say, it's nothing but a ploy."

"Fine. Give it a try", she calmly responded.

He glared down at her for a moment, probably upset that she showed no sign of being fazed or fearful of him. In reality, she was terrified but she wouldn't show that. It would ruin the act. She needed to at least act calm even if she wasn't completely so. Alvin then threw the book to one of his soldiers. The man caught it, dropping his spear and shield.

"You heard the girl", Alvin told him.

The man gulped and stepped up to a purple and blue Deadly Nadder being brought in.

"Alright. Seems easy enough", he said. He looked down to the opened book in his hands and looked confused. "Uh, what kind of dragon is this?"

Astrid resisted the urge to roll her eyes. _'Seriously? And Alvin really expects these guys to train dragons?'_ Even when they were killing dragons they knew what dragon they were facing.

"It's a Deadly Nadder", she said matter-of-factly coupled with some smugness as well. "You need the page number?"

"Uhh… Nope. Nope, nope. Right here. Uh, D-Deadly Nadder. Likes to preen. Very sure of itself. Uh, constant grooming", he read as the dragon in fact preened in front of him. "Hmm, alright, uh, will appeal to its vanity", he finished reading.

Alvin looked skeptical at her, and Astrid just shook her head knowing how this would end up. The man stepped up to the Nadder.

"Well, you certainly are a lovely girl", he said. The dragon responded and Astrid could tell it sounded happy. He'd probably guessed right. "Or-or are you a handsome boy? Wh-who can tell?" he then amended fearful that her advance was one of anger or offence. It was a poor choice, as he'd now offended the Nadder. She looked to him with silted pupils and squawked angrily with her tail rising up in attack. Her spines unsheathed at the ready, and with few seconds to spare, Astrid dived for the shield the man had previously dropped, rolling to a stop in front of him. She'd made it in time as the Nadder shot her spines and landed into Astrid's shield instead of the Outcast.

She turned back with a smug smile and tossed the speared shield to his feet. "Like I said. The _book_ will only get you so far, _Alvin_."

000

Arriving in Outcast waters, near their destination of interest, Hiccup didn't see any wild dragons. "You see this Fishlegs? You got yourself all worked up for nothing." It looked like they weren't going to have to initiate their second part of the plan.

"Um, you were saying?" Fishlegs then said.

Well, she didn't see any until two Nadders, two Gronckles, and a Nightmare showed up in front of them.

"Guys, remember! Stick to the plan! No matter how crazy it gets!" she called.

"Crazy?! I love crazy!" Snotlout said from above her. "Bring it! Wait. What's the plan again?"

There was no time to explain it again; the dragons were coming straight towards them in order to defend their territory.

"Now! Fire!" Hiccup called instead, opening the basket of fish that she had carried on her back the entire trip and dumping the fish out. She hoped it gave the others direction enough of what to do. It did, and one by one, her friends dropped their fish. And as expected the dragons dived for the fish allowing them to pass.

"Yes! We did it! Stupid dragons!" Snotlout cheered as he held his fist up into the air. Unfortunately, that fist held a fish and a red and blue Nadder spotted it. He grabbed Snotlout's fish, and in the process grabbed Snotlout as well screaming out.

Dropping her basket to make them more streamlined, Hiccup and Toothless sped to get the boy back. They caught up to the Nadder quickly and were ready to rescue, but Snotlout only struggled in the dragons grip trying to get his fish back in the process.

"Would you just let go of the fish! I'll catch you!" Hiccup called up to him.

"No! That's _my_ lunch!

"Just do it! Now!"

As stubborn as Snotlout was, he complied, and with her shout he let go of the fish and dropped onto Toothless. With no more dragons in their way, the group flew on to Outcast Island to wait for when Astrid would meet them with the book.

000

The following morning, in order to prove her claims, Astrid was brought to an arena similar to the one in Berk. She was shoved by Alvin to the entrance, but stopped and turned around holding her hand out.

"What?! What is it?!"

"The book. I need it", she said as if it were obvious.

He looked down at her skeptically.

"Well I didn't memorize it." _'Come on, just give it to me.'_

After a moment, he did. The book was finally back in Berkian hands. But, she wasn't in the clear just yet. She was shoved inside the arena, the door slammed shut behind her. Now Astrid's only problem was getting to her friends. Luckily, she was in the perfect position to do so; everything seemed to just be falling into place. All she had to do was train this dragon and fly off. Easy.

She turned to one of the cages preparing for them to let out the wild dragon. "Please be a Nadder. Please be a Nadder. Please be a Nadder", she pleaded silently over and over. The door opened and out came…

A raging Monstrous Nightmare.

"Oh, great." _'No longer so easy.'_

Astrid flipped through the book to the Monstrous Nightmare, but before she could actually read anything that might have been helpful Alvin interrupted tauntingly.

"Well…? I'm waiting…"

"All right big boy, it's _you_ and _me_ ", she said to the Nightmare. It was now or never. She decided to try the universal approach. Extending her hand out, Astrid slowly walked up to the dragon. She didn't get far, however, since the Nightmare suddenly burst into flames knocking her back.

' _Ugh. This is never gonna work. He's too riled up.'_ "How 'bout the direct approach?"

Abandoning Hiccup's method, she ran at the Nightmare with a cry and grabbed at his tail.

"Ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo. Our little Heather is feistier than I remember", Alvin could be heard commenting. Astrid was then thrown from the dragon's tail and into the wall her second attempt failing. "This isn't anything my soldiers haven't already tried! You'll need to do better!"

"Ugh. The one time I wish Snotlout was here", Astrid said to herself triggering a memory especially when she eyed the Nightmare's horns. "Snotlout…"

" _Can you calm him down?!" Aric irritably exclaimed._

" _Fine. Whatever", Snotlout said before marching up to Hookfang and taking his horns, pinning them to the ground. His dragon stopped and calmed immediately. "Figured that one out yesterday. He likes it."_

Charging at the dragon again, Astrid leaped onto the Nightmare's horns and grabbed hold of them with a death grip. The Nightmare thrashed around trying to throw her off, but she held on strong. She got some footing on his snout and was about to try pinning his horns down, when the dragon slammed her into the wall.

"Well, that's the end of that", Alvin said, but Savage thought differently.

"Wait. Look!" he said.

She was trapped between him and the wall, but she still pushed back with all her might still trying to move his head as he pushed forward trying with all his might to squish her.

"Ugh! These things don't budge! Agh!" She pushed further with help of her legs, using the wall to her advantage. With her hands still on the dragon's horns and her feet pushing against the wall, she pushed the dragon's head back and stared into his yellow eyes wavering his concentration. With one thrust she propelled forward moving the dragon's head and finally pinning his horns to the ground when left surprised. The Nightmare, just as Hookfang had, immediately calmed and became docile.

"What?!" Alvin exclaimed in surprise. "Oh-ho! I told you she knew what she was doing!"

"Yes. You, certainly did", Savage responded.

With a huff, Astrid sat on the Nightmare's neck. She was ready to go home and she bet the dragon was more than ready to leave as well.

"What do you say we get out of here?" she said as she grabbed the book which had fallen to the ground earlier, and the dragon got up in response.

Not willing to just let her ride off with the book, however, Outcasts began to flood into the arena of which Astrid's new Nightmare friend promptly blasted away in their defense. They were just about to leave when Alvin spoke.

"Going somewhere, Heather?" he questioned knowingly.

"As far away from this place as possible!" she responded.

"Without your parents?"

At that moment two people were taken into Astrid's view; one man and one woman who were looked quite freighted.

"Parents? She was telling the truth?"

"I might see my way clear to trading them for that book. Or, you can _leave_ and I'll _kill_ them."

Now Astrid was stuck. She could have just flown off and met with her friends as previously planned, but that would mean leaving Heather's parents to die. She wished Heather would have just asked for their help when she had come to Berk instead of messing with them and creating this mess. But still, Astrid wasn't going to leave Heather's family behind just because the girl had made a mistake. She made her decision; the plan had changed.

000

Outside of the town of Outcast Island, the riders laid in wait for Astrid. It was seeming to take longer than previously thought and they all were starting to become antsy and concerned.

"Coo-coo! Coo-coo!" Snotlout called out.

"What are you doing?" Aric questioned him, stopping his pacing.

"Coo-coo! Coo-coo! Duh, that's our signal."

"Snotlout, we don't _give_ the signal time. _Astrid_ does."

"Like any of this matters anyway", Fishlegs worried. "She's almost an hour late! Oh we never should have let her go. Alvin must have figured out what was going on and—Huh!"

"Costume sucked. I told you guys", Tuffnut added in.

"Guys, she'll be here. It's Astrid", Hiccup consoled. Looking out, however, her eyes shined with worry herself. What was taking Astrid so long?

000

After Hiccup's words, Aric continued on pacing. He was getting tired of waiting around and wished he could just do something. Fishlegs was right; Astrid was almost an hour late and that could only mean something had gone a miss somehow. But, maybe they were all just worrying for nothing. Maybe nothing was wrong and the mission was just taking longer than they had expected. Astrid could hold her own. She was probably fine. Right?

000

Heather's parents were brought down into the arena and Astrid stood across from them with the book. She had to think quickly; she couldn't just hand the book to Alvin. But, she also had to save Heather's parents. She had a dragon; technically, she was at an advantage. Maybe, just maybe she could rescue both.

"Well? Let's have it", Alvin said.

"Send them over first!" Astrid demanded back.

"Fine", he replied begrudgingly before shoving the couple to her. The two were walking towards Astrid when they then stopped and looked to each other in confusion. They realized she wasn't their daughter, but even so, she had to make this look good.

"Mom! Dad!" she exclaimed as she ran to hug the strangers. "I'm a friend of Heather's. I'm here to help", she then whispered in her normal voice trying to ease their minds as to whether Heather was safe or not as well as who she was.

"You do realize, I'll never let you out of here with that book."

"No kidding!" Astrid shouted before whispering to the couple once again. "When I tell you, drop to the ground. It's about to get really hot in here."

"Oh, Heather, _I'm waiting_."

Astrid stood there for a moment, the book in her hands, Heather's parents at her side, and the Monstrous Nightmare standing behind her. She then suddenly threw the book into the air.

"Now!" she yelled to the couple. "Sorry, boy", she said to the Nightmare before punching his snout. As expected, the Nightmare grew angry and startled with the action. Astrid dropped to the ground and the Nightmare flamed up in defense shooting a blast of fire towards Alvin, missing Astrid.

The Nightmare scampered off and Astrid got up to run to the book and high tail it out of there, but Alvin was smart as she suddenly heard a scream from behind. Turning around she saw Heather's father's legs tied up in a bola. Grabbing the book she ran to go help him. She dropped the book for only a second so she could help the man up, when Alvin came up to them and the book. She left the man, diving for the book, but it was to no avail. Alvin was stronger than her and easily picked her up by grabbing her head. He yanked the book from her hands, and Astrid struggled to get out of the grip he had on her head as well as reach for the book.

"Heather, Heather, Heather—" Alvin suddenly stopped, and he looked at her; really looked at her. Astrid was starting to fear that the jig was up. Then, he let go of her head to find black residue on his hands and she knew. "Or are ya…" he menacingly said. _'Defiantly not easy'_ , she thought nervously.

000

Astrid was now nearly two hours late, and now Hiccup couldn't sit still either. She had been tapping her right foot against the side of the rock she was sitting on for the past ten minutes. Aric stopped pacing a while ago, but he was now sitting with his head in his hands. If Astrid didn't return within the next half hour they were going to have to go in; they couldn't wait around forever and Astrid could be in danger.

 **"Hey, look who showed up"** , Toothless then said.

Hiccup looked up, and she stood up with her eyes widening in delight. "There's Astrid!"

"Yeah, but who's that with her?" Aric questioned.

"I don't know." Astrid waved her hand with two fingers up. "But that's the signal. Okay let's go, bud!"

Hopping on Toothless, the duo sprung up into the air landing in front of Astrid and the two strangers who were cowering in fear of her dragon. "Who's this?"

"Heather's parents. She was telling the truth, just go with the plan", Astrid responded finishing in a hushed tone as if someone was listening. And indeed someone was, as Outcasts began to flood into the area surrounding them.

"Well… Hiccup. Bet you're surprised to see me", Alvin said as he came out.

Below her Toothless was growling threateningly ready at a moment's notice.

"Eh, not really. This is where you live, right?" Hiccup replied nonchalantly, taking a different route than her dragon.

"You know, Hiccup, with this book, _your_ knowledge of dragons, and _my_ knowledge of warfare we could make quite the team. How does that sound?"

The Outcasts seemed to like the idea, getting a mad glint in their eyes and laughing quite evilly. Hiccup, on the other hand, had a different way of thinking.

"Uh, well let me see… Insane. Demented. Delusional. Stupid?" she finished with a lighthearted shrug. Hiccup had to admit she was starting to like these games.

"Alright then. We'll just have to agree to disagree. You're a smart girl, Hiccup. You know, I can't let you leave the island."

"And you're a smart murderess barbarian, Alvin. You know I have a better plan than this."

"So do I."

"Now!"

"Now!"

Dragon riders and Outcasts collided in battle, the dragons using their fire, and their heads and bodies to bash the Outcasts away like flies. Since Astrid didn't have a dragon Aric stuck with her, but even then Astrid was doing well on her own. Everything seemed to be going in their favor, until the Outcasts caught up, using nets and ropes. Fishlegs and Meatlug were the first to be captured trapped under a net.

"Ahh! This wasn't part of the plan, Hiccup!"

Then, the twins were taken out when a rope was lassoed around their dragon's necks throwing them off the Zippleback. The Outcasts were starting to close in on the remaining four, their attacks seeming useless.

"There's too many of them!" Snotlout shouted as Hiccup dodged an arrow that nearly pierced her head.

"We're never gonna get out of here!" Aric exclaimed next.

At the moment that statement seemed to be true. The Outcasts were closing in and the further the battle went on, the closer they seemed to come to their deaths. But, then the net detaining Fishlegs was removed, the rope keeping the Zippleback down was burned off with a magnesium fire, and the Outcasts surrounding them were beaten back some.

"Is that—?" Hiccup began.

"Heather", Aric finished with surprise in his voice.

"Stormfly!" Astrid exclaimed happily.

Heather and Stormfly landed by them and Astrid ran to greet and pet her dragon.

"What are you doing here? Why are you helping us?" Aric asked frustratingly and confused.

"Aric, she was telling the truth. Those", she said gesturing to the couple they were helping to protect, "are Heather's parents. She was only trying to protect them", Astrid explained. "I'm sorry", she then said to Heather.

"Me too. I'm sorry I didn't believe you", Aric also apologized.

"It's okay. I probably would have done the same. Both of you", she replied seeming ashamed.

"Now let's get your parents", Astrid stated confidently. Heather pulled her up onto Stormfly and they switched places so Astrid was the one flying. One by one the riders took off into the air, and Stormfly was steered to the man and woman who had clearly never been in battle or much conflict before holding each other in fear as Outcasts came up to them. She picked the two up with her claws and the couple was once again startled by this.

"Mom! Dad! Hang on!" Heather yelled down.

"Alright guys, just like we practiced!" Hiccup called. "Ruffnut, cover fire!"

"It's about time", she said before pulling on Barf's horns telling him to let his gas out in front of the Outcasts' catapults.

"I love this part!" Tuffnut shouted. "Wait for it…" He pulled on Belch telling him to spark and the stream of gas ignited causing the Outcasts near the catapults to flee from the explosion.

Not all the catapults were burst into flames, however, as one was shot and a boulder whizzed right passed Hiccup and Toothless. "Fishlegs! Incoming!"

Meatlug ate the boulder as practiced beforehand. "Whoa! Nice catch girl", Fishlegs praised. "Lava blast." They charged forward and Meatlug shot out her blast straight at the catapult that had given her the ammo.

"Yeah!" Heather shouted out with glee and excitement.

Though most of the catapults were taken care of, the arrows persisted. "Now! Snotlout, Astrid!" Aric shouted.

"Go for it!" Snotlout shouted back with his dragon covered in flames. As he zoomed passed, the siblings fired and their dragons' spines passed through the flames emanating from Hookfang and into the trees where the archers were. "Whoo-hoo! You feeling the heat boys, 'cause I sure am!"

"Great job, guys! Now let's get out of here", Hiccup called. They got the book, and they got the parents; it was time to go home.

000

Finally things were looking up. Heather wasn't actually with the Outcasts, they rescued her family and the Book of Dragons, and Astrid was back safely on Stormfly. They were now retreating and heading for home, and just when things were going right Alvin had to ruin it.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed in surprise as Savage nearly flew into him, but then he saw the man was heading straight for Stormfly. "Astrid!"

It was too late. Savage collided with her throwing her off the dragon and down at Alvin's feet, and the man picked her up tossing her over his shoulder.

"Astrid!"

Aric had Shadowstar fly fast to chase after Alvin blasting plasma bolts at him while also trying to avoid his sister. The chase landed them to a cliff where Alvin dangled her off the ledge.

"Surrender. Or I'll… well, you know the rest", Alvin said as Astrid struggled in his grasp.

That's when Aric noticed the book stuck in his belt. Astrid _didn't_ get the book. Well, he'd soon fix that. Aric was tired of this; Alvin had captured or used Astrid in some way against them three times now, and three was more than enough to get him pissed. Not again. He wasn't gonna allow Alvin the chance to mess with his sister _ever_ again. He'd be able to catch Astrid easily once she fell.

"Do it, girl", Aric muttered.

Shadowstar prepared her blast, one that would end this madness, until Astrid shouted, "No! Aric, don't shoot!"

The Midnight Nadder abruptly stopped, and the two looked to her in confusion. That's when a yellow and purple Monstrous Nightmare flew up out of nowhere knocking Alvin off his feet and dropping Astrid to the ground. Taking the book that had fallen from Alvin's belt, Astrid grabbed onto the Nightmare and the four all flew off.

"Who is that?" Aric asked.

"Just a new friend I made", she answered.

With Astrid's new friend Aric and Astrid joined the group and headed home glad they could finally put this mess behind them. And, if Alvin ever came near Astrid again, Aric swore he wouldn't hesitate to shoot.

000

After the Nightmare had knocked him down Alvin was stunned. Not from the Nightmare's attack on him, but from its actions toward the rider.

"Did you see that?" Alvin questioned Savage. "The dragon came for her. It protected her!"

"Bonded with her", Savage added. "We need to get that book back, Alvin!"

"No, we need more than the book. _We need Stoick's girl._ "

000

After returning to Berk Hiccup explained to her father what had truly happened on Outcast Island and that Heather was only trying to protect her family. They got a boat set up for them, and Hiccup was now with Aric and Astrid saying their goodbyes to Heather as Stoick talked with the parents.

"I can't thank you enough. Especially you, Astrid. You put your life on the line for us, and I'll never forget that", Heather said before suddenly giving Astrid a big hug. It shocked her for a moment, but she hugged back still and after a few pats Heather pulled away. "I'm gonna miss you. All of you."

"Who knows? Maybe we'll see each other again sometime", Hiccup suggested.

"Maybe we will."

"Just, promise us one thing, Heather. If you ever need help again, you'll ask", Aric said.

"Yeah. I hope today proved we wouldn't hesitate to help", Astrid added.

"I will. I promise", Heather replied. With that she went to the boat where her parents were waiting for her and they watched her sail off waving goodbye.

000

 _Heather. An interesting girl to say the least, but I wouldn't mind seeing her again. Ever since dragons showed up on Berk we've learned to expect the unexpected. But every once in a while something or someone comes along that surprises us. And when that happens, you kind of hate to see them go._

* * *

 **Sorry if this was boring and terrible. I promise to make it up with the next three. And I'll try to stay on schedule too. I know this was technically supposed to come out last week, but school had started back up and just pushed all personal projects back, you know.**


	10. Thawfest

**See, said I'd make it up. Bonus one! (well, really just early release. but you get it). And no, I didn't push myself. I wouldn't do that. I just really like this episode and I couldn't stop myself from spending my little day off on it.**

 **Also, I forgot to mention last time, but I recently posted on my Song fics collection a short one shot called Reflection that I think you guys should check out. It's a snippet from Hiccup's (this one's) childhood I think you guys might enjoy reading. It's honestly mostly story than song so if you're not into song fics don't worry, it's really more like what I did in I am Not a Curse. The song just adding to the story.**

 **Okay. Now with announcements out of the way, on with the show!**

* * *

 _ **Thawfest:**_

 _Every year on Berk we come together to test our strength, endurance, and courage in the annual Thawfest games. For some of us it's not a great time of year. In fact, I've lost every single time to my cousin, Snotlout Jorgenson._

000

Hiccup was training with Gobber trying to rip a small tree from the ground. Needless to say it wasn't going very well.

"Come on, Hiccup, pull! Put your back into it!" he told her, so she turned around and pulled pushing her back against it to rip it out.

"Ugh!" It wasn't budging.

"Alright, put your legs into it! Put your entire—Ahh!" He was stopped mid-sentence by the tree swinging into his face.

"Oops…" Hiccup cringed. "…On the bright side I made it move?"

"Faster, Snotlout! You have to push yourself, son!" they heard Spitelout, Snotlout's father, yelling. Of course the Jorgensons had to be in the same area. Snotlout, as opposed to Hiccup, tore his much larger tree out of the ground and threw it aside no problem. "Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi, oi, oi!" they then chanted.

Next Hiccup was training for the Sheep-Lug where she had to run carrying a sheep on her back. Not the most comfortable thing with wings, nor easy when you had the strength of a twig. As she ran with the sheep in the forest panting, Snotlout showed up again, of course, not losing the opportunity to brag and humiliate her.

"Heh, see ya, wouldn't want to be ya!" he called kicking dirt in her face and causing her to lose balance. She fell back with the weight of the sheep and the woolly critter scurried off. Snotlout only laughed standing with his father, her uncle— _'by marriage'_ Hiccup reminded herself constantly—looking as proud as ever.

000

 _Snotlout has always been a thorn in my side but it's never so much more prevalent than when Thawfest comes along. But, this year, all of that will change. This year I finally have a chance to win! Because for the first time ever, this year, the games will include…_

000

"Dragons! They are now officially part of Thawfest", Gobber informed to the few teens who stood in the academy. "There will be three additional events. The Fly and Shoot, which will require you to fly straight and shoot straighter—"

He ducked a fire ball hurdling towards him from the twins and their Zippleback.

"Hey!"

"Sorry! We were on the wrong head", Tuffnut explained as the two switched places.

"I knew something felt weird", Ruffunt commented.

They fired again and another fire ball came for him, this time hitting his flag-hand prosthetic.

Tuffnut sighed in relief. "Much better."

Gobber glared at the two for a moment. He blew out his now smoking flag and then promptly moved on. "Next, is the Free-Style, where it will be up to you to impress the judges with a trick of your choice.

"That's it, girl, just like we practiced" Astrid said as she and Stormfly flew by with Astrid balancing on Stormfly doing acrobatics.

"Ahh, the Nadder Wing Walk. Impressive, Astrid."

"Um, excuse me", Fishlegs started. "Meatlug and I were wondering if there were going to be any intellectual events. A puzzle perhaps?"

"I'll take that under advisement, Fishlegs. And let's not forget the hurdles! Where you will be asked to—" Once again, Gobber was interrupted; this time by Snotlout who had just decided to show up.

"Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!" Snotlout cheered and laughed as he flew towards the academy and landed kicking the dirt up into Hiccup's face. _Again_. Getting off of Hookfang, Snotlout confidently strutted over wearing all his medals.

"You know what I love about the Thaw Feastival games? Winning", he said getting in her face. "You want to touch one of my medals? Just to see how it feels to be a _winner_?"

"Yeah… I think I'll pass", Hiccup replied.

"My family has _never_ lost a Thawfest games. _Ever_!"

"Here we go…" Aric dreaded.

"Dragons or no dragons I'll do what I do _every year_. Bring _glory_ to the Jorgenson clan, and you'll do what you do. _Embarrass_ yours" Snotlout finished directing the insult to Hiccup before laughing and flying off. Well, more dangling off Hookfang's saddle as the dragon flew off actually.

Hiccup could never understand why Snotlout always only picked on her during Thawfest. He did realize he was beating the others too, right? It was like he had fabricated this rivalry she never wanted to be a part of. Why? That's something Hiccup would have liked to have known herself.

That night, Hiccup was working in her room with Toothless, and as usual the dragon had a few questions to ask.

 **"Why do you even care? It's just a meaningless game"** , he asked a little confused.

"Dragons have competitions that mean certain things for the winner and loser, right?" Hiccup asked to start off as she wrote on her desk.

 **"Yeah, but I thought you said these games didn't change your village?"**

"Well, they don't. Not really." Hiccup turned around to face him. "But… think of it like a competition for dominance. By Snotlout winning it brings himself higher in a social standard. Not to mention his ego. I'm still heir, and nothing changes with my friends, but as a result of winning Snotlout is seen as a better Viking then the rest of us, and by extension his family."

 **"But I thought—"**

"The _Jorgenson_ family", she clarified sounding stern.

Toothless still seemed perplexed. Just as humans didn't always understand dragon actions it was only natural for dragons not to understand human actions. She turned back to her work.

"Don't worry about it, bud. Just think about how great it'd be when Snotlout has to shut up for once. _ **Not**_ **to mention his insistent** _ **gloating**_ **"** , she finished in a growl.

Finished with writing, Hiccup stood taking a measuring tape. She walked over where Toothless laid down, and dropping the subject he let her measure him. "Okay… Uh-huh…"

"What are you two working on?" her father then asked out of nowhere startling her.

"Ah, whoa!" she yelped dropping the measuring tape, but catching it before it fell. _'How did I not heard him coming?! How long was he standing there?!'_

"Oh, uh, just some ideas for Thawfest", she then answered, and then went back to trying to measure Toothless.

"Right. Right. Excellent", he replied oddly. There was an awkward silence next; he just stood there as if waiting for something.

"So…" she began turning back around. "Did you need something, dad?"

"Oh, well—uh—with the dragons you could actually, well—"

"Beat Snotlout? _Best_ the Jorgensons?"

"Well when you put it that way, it does have a nice ring", he said cheerfully. They both had smiles at the idea when another awkward silence passed. "Okay then! Eh, I'll let you get back to whatever it is, em, you two do. Yeah."

Her dad walked downstairs and Hiccup turned back to Toothless. "Well, that was weird."

 **"You're both weird."**

000

A few days passed and the day had finally come. The chain dome was up opening the stadium, people flooded the seats, and everyone, man, woman, and child, were all very excited.

"Let the Thaw Feastival games begin!" Stoick announced, and the crowd cheered with excitement.

"What are we?!" Spitelout yelled.

"We're killers!" Snotlout replied.

"What do we do?!"

"We kill!"

"What do we say?"

" "Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi, oi, oi!" "

"The contestants are now lining up for the Sheep-Lug", Mulch announced, him and Bucket being the commentators of the event.

"It's a good day for lugging sheep, Mulch", Bucket said.

"Well, Bucket, every day's a good day for lugging sheep."

The teens, one by one, were given their sheep by Gobber who just plopped the sheep onto their backs; Hiccup grunting when he did so to her. She turned to look at Snotlout and instantly regretted it seeing him spit into his hands and rub it all over his face. She shuddered in disgust.

"On your mark… Get set…" Mulch hit his hook hand against Bucket's bucket and the race was on.

Snotlout once again took the lead, and in no time reached the finish line throwing his sheep onto the ground in victory like a ball. Luckily their sheep could pretty much endure anything and after bouncing into Hookfang the sheep was fine and back on its feet within the next second as if nothing had happened. Snotlout cheered and his family of course were the happiest standing up cheering with joy and pride.

"That's my boy!" Spitelout called.

The others of course weren't too happy and watched as Astrid and Aric came in second and third, and then the remaining four that still struggled to at least finish. Fishlegs barely made it past the start with his knees giving out and falling over with the weight of the sheep, the twins couldn't stop fighting to race, and while Hiccup was a ways ahead of them, she was quickly losing steam. She was just about to make it to the finish line when she couldn't hold out anymore and fell to the ground with the sheep trapping her underneath. She was honestly surprised she made that far.

"First point of the Thaw Festival games goes to… Snotlout!"

The sheep, having decided he didn't want to stick around, painfully jumped off her back and Hiccup just laid on the ground.

"Right where you belong. Down at my feet", Snotlout mocked at her. "Here, let me help you." Snotlout extended his hand out to her, and just when Hiccup thought he would actually be decent for once as she reached for it, he pulled away thinking it to be hilarious. "Oops! Too slow! As usual. Ha!"

000

"I just don't get it. _Why_ does he always come after me? What did I ever do? I get it that Haddocks and Jorgensons have never really gotten along, but he _always_ does this. Even when I achieve something he belittles it as nothing", Hiccup ranted to Astrid during their short reprieve so the next game could be set up.

"It's Snotlout. What do you expect?" Astrid reasoned.

"Next up is our traditional Log-Role event!" Mulch announced.

"Come on. Maybe this time I _won't_ be humiliated", Hiccup said.

000

Soon the teens were lined up on a log lifted over a pile of bags filled with sand to fall into when they lost.

"Enjoy your face plant", Snotlout said before they began running causing the log to roll faster and faster and it becoming harder and harder to keep up. First, Fishlegs and Aric fell off with Fishlegs knocking Aric off when he flew off. Then Astrid went down followed by the twins with Tuffnut being stuck around the log as it rolled.

It was down to Hiccup and Snotlout; it always was with this event with Hiccup always being a fast runner. Running to the cove to sometimes cry and escape your problems almost every day would do that. But, just like every year, Hiccup was eventually flown off as well.

"And another point goes to Snotlout!"

 **"Hang on, Hiccup, I'm coming"** , Toothless said to the girl stuck in the rocks, her feet and tail kicking helplessly as her head and arms were stuck between the bags. He grabbed onto her vest and flipped her up freeing her.

"Thank you. Toothless", she said having been beaten once again.

 **"You'll do better next round."**

"Yeah. Right."

Yeah right indeed, as the next game was…

"The Ax Throwing Contest! Where accuracy is supreme."

' _This shouldn't be too hard. Accuracy; a Night Fury's specialty. If only this ax wasn't so heavy"_ , Hiccup thought as she tried lifting the ax and effectively having it plop over her shoulder. Snotlout shot first, his ax hitting bullseye. Aric and Fishlegs tried to go next, but Fishlegs' aim was terrible knocking Aric's ax out causing the boy to glare at him. Astrid went next, and came close, but not close enough as the ax hit one of the two barrels right below the target; swords she knew, axes and throwing them not so much. The twins threw next with Ruffnut spinning letting her ax go in the chief's direction which was in the opposite end of the target. Stoick caught it with one hand, and then Tuffnut, having a similar strategy, threw his ax into the crowd nearly taking a man's head.

Now it was Hiccup's turn, her target in sight. She held the ax out in front of her to how she would aim, and then with a good swing back and forth threw the weapon. It flew straight for the target and it almost looked as if it would hit. But, then her rotten luck and lack of physical strength had to catch up to her once again and the ax fell short sticking into the ground just in front of it. The crowd awed with the misfortune, except for Spitelout who could be heard laughing. Snotlout, too, couldn't have been happier; perfect opportunity to gloat. He took the ax out from the ground and went to Hiccup's spot in front of her target.

"Here's how it's done, dragon-girl", he said. With his back turned to the target he threw the ax behind him hitting the barrel perfectly. Then, taking two more axes did it again sticking two into one target at the same time.

"Show off", Hiccup bitterly muttered, finishing with a small growl that meant nothing but **'annoyance'** and **'anger'**. Her pupils even slited for a moment. She was just about on her last straw with him.

Meanwhile, the Jorgensons cheered and Spitelout of course couldn't resist boasting. "Why don't you just give us the medal now, Stoick? Save your girl the embarrassment!"

"Why don't you take a seat? Spitelout", the chief angrily replied.

"Ooohh…" the people around sounded, and Spitelout begrudgingly did so.

"Don't let him get to you", Gobber said to Stoick.

"He's been getting to me for years. Why should today be any different?" he responded just as fed up with Spitelout as Hiccup was with Snotlout.

000

With the final event for the day done, Hiccup looked at the points noticing how Snotlout was the picture on top and hers was on the bottom. "Well, dead last", she said as if the pictures showed the order.

"Wow… I have all the points _and_ the best looking picture? Unfair", Snotlout said boastingly walking up.

"Oh have your fun now! But tomorrow, _everything_ changes. Right bud?" she finished walking up to Toothless.

"I can't wait, 'cause Hookfang and I? It's like boy and dragon have become one. We're like a bragon."

' _That makes sense. You both do brag.'_

"Or a droy."

' _You mean a toy for Hookfang?'_

"Or a Snotfang!" he yelled out lastly flying off.

"Yeah?!" she called out. "Well tomorrow you're gonna have to deal with… Hicc—tooth…"

"Hicctooth?" Aric questioned.

"Yeah, it's not my snappiest comeback."

" _Why_ are you letting yourself get caught up in this?"

"Because…! For the first time ever _I_ have a chance to _beat Snotlout_. To quiet him down."

"SNOTLOUT, SNOTLOUT! OI, OI, OI!" the said boy chanted as he swooped over the two.

"Hmm, good point", Aric agreed. "I have to admit", he continued as he walked to his dragon, "it _would_ be nice to see someone else with a Thawfest medal." With that he flew off, and once he left Hiccup stared off into the direction Snotlout had flown, her eyes narrowed and ears flattened.

"You've spiked your last sheep, _'Snotfang'_. **Tomorrows a new day…"**

000

The following day, Hiccup was raring to go. Today was Snotlout's turn to be humiliated for once. She sat on Toothless lined up just like everyone else in front of the hurdles that were to be part of their first challenge.

"Welcome to day two of the Thawfest games! Let the _dragon_ events begin!" Mulch announced out.

"It's a good day for lugging sheep, Mulch", Bucket then followed.

There was a pause, until Mulch's voice was heard again. "First up, the hurdles!"

"Hurdles shmurdles… I could make it over those things in my sleep", Snotlout commented.

"Be my guest", Hiccup replied knowingly.

"You don't go _over_ them, Snotlout. You go _under_ them", Aric corrected.

"Duh, I knew that", Snotlout replied.

 **"You're going down"** , Hookfang growled.

 **"In your dreams"** , Toothless growled right back.

"And first up is… Fishlegs!" Mulch said, and with a ring from Bucket's bucket, Fishlegs and Meatlug were off… only to get stuck beneath the first hurdle.

"Uh, guys, little help over here?" Fishlegs asked as Meatlug's wings fluttered helplessly. "It's okay, girl. This just isn't our event."

Once Fishlegs and Meatlug were pried from under the hurdle, Astrid was up. She and Stormfly were doing well going under several hurdles, until Stormfly's crown of spikes hit a hurdle and caused it to fall. Aric was next, and because Shadowstar was more streamlined it was much easier for them. They would have gotten a perfect score, but just before the last hurdle he became too confident and forgot his head effectively hitting it passing the last one. The twins went after, and just as Fishlegs, didn't get very far with Ruffnut pulling up. And with Barf going up and Belch going down their two heads got caught with the hurdle in the middle. The twins were thrown off their dragon and into the crowd as consequence, but the two only laughed thinking the experience fun as well as their upside down position against the stands.

Now, it was Snotlout's turn. "Where's your book, Hiccup? You might want to take notes!" he laughed. With that Hookfang took off and Hiccup couldn't help the growl that escaped her.

Immediately Snotlout made a fool of himself having his head smack into the first hurdle as Hookfang passed under it, followed by the same incident over and over with each hurdle passed. Hiccup smirked. "Let's show 'em how it's done."

 **"Let's go!"** Toothless roared confidently, and Hiccup crouched flat on his back. Toothless raced forwards and just before passing the first hurdle he flipped upside down allowing them to pass through easily without hitting their heads even once.

000

Aric smiled as Hiccup had made her very first win. She must have been feeling very proud, and indeed she was when she landed near him and Fishlegs.

"And Hiccup makes a perfect run!" Mulch announced as a point was painted next to her picture.

"Ha, ha, ha!" Hiccup cheered excitedly with her arms raised to the air in victory. She was just radiating happiness. "Did you hear what he said?! Perfect! I-I believe those are my first Thawfest points _ever_!" It was great seeing Hiccup like this; she deserved it. That is until it started to take a turn. She began to speak faster like her mind was whirling and rushing and her tone began to shift. "I just realized something. I like beating Snotlout! I feel taller, do I look taller? Never mind, don't answer that."

"Is she… gloating?" Fishlegs asked concerned.

"I'm not sure. I've never actually seen Hiccup _gloat_ ", he answered. It was a little concerning though. What if the win was getting to her head?

"Don't get too excited", Snotlout bitterly said as he landed next to Hiccup. Aric noticed Hiccup's demeanor change from lighthearted to angry and competitive real quick. "You know what this is?" Snotlout asked as he held one finger up. "Still the number of wins I need to end this thing. And you know what this is?" he asked again holding up two fingers. "The number of chances I get."

Aric was expecting Hiccup to either not respond or say some snarky remark, but instead Hiccup only stooped down to his level.

"Well you know what this?" Hiccup copied holding up her hand and curling two fingers to make a hole shape. "The size of your brain… No wait. Mmm… that's more like it", she then amended making the hole much smaller.

Snotlout huffed. "Like you've ever seen my brain. Come on, Hookfang." With that the two flew off and Aric motioned in the form of 'what was that?' unable to really voice his disapproval.

"What? He started it…! When we were five…" Hiccup said in response somehow completely oblivious to her change in behavior.

Her comeback was a little funny, he had to admit, but Hiccup's tone was just so… _not_ Hiccup. At least not the one he thought he knew.

000

"Next we have the Free-Style event! Contestants and their dragons with show off their style and abilities!"

"Check this out!" Ruffnut shouted as the twins did their trick. As Tuffnut stood on top of the Zippleback, his stance supported by the necks of their dragon, Ruffnut stood above him on his shoulders.

"We call it the Iron Split!" Tuffnut shouted out as well.

Just as he said that, the dragon's heads split into two different directions causing Tuffnut to go into an extremely painful split. It earned the two a score of two out of nine.

"We like to call this next feet of daring The Extreme Butterfly", Fishlegs told the crowd. Meatlug flew in circles round and round and round, until the two became dizzy and Meatlug fell out of it causing the two to unfortunately crash. It earned them a score of four out of nine. "That's okay girl. This just isn't our event either."

Astrid went up next with her Nadder Wing Walk, or Balance Dance receiving many awes from the crowd. It ended with her doing a final flip and landing with a hand stand on Stormfly's crown.

"How does she make it look so easy?" Fishlegs asked standing beside the twins.

"How come you can't do that?" Tuffnut asked Ruffnut. "I mean, I could." It earned him a slap onto the ground from her.

The judges' scores came in, and it was a seven out of nine.

It was now Aric's turn and he went out further from the stadium than the rest for safety reasons mainly. Shdowstar flew out and then she changed course flying straight up towards the clouds. She then pointed her spines out and began to twirl causing the spines to release in a great display of what Aric called the Spiked Tornado. It was quite wondrous, but not as complex as Astrid's Balance Dance so he only earned a six out of nine.

"Yes!" Astrid exclaimed to herself.

Hiccup's turn came next and she and Toothless also did their trick outside the stadium. It was a bunch of complex aerial maneuvers; typical really. But, Hiccup spiced it up with their finale. Toothless sped to a sea stack and just before hitting it zoomed up and angled himself backwards into several flips. In the middle of their last flip Hiccup locked the tail fin and then "fell" off of Toothless. The crowd gasped for a moment, when Hiccup then swept up and around Toothless higher into the sky, did a single loop-de-loop, and then angling herself perpendicular to Toothless who had managed to level himself out, tucked her wings in and while twirling round and round like Shadowstar had fell back into Toothless' saddle.

"WHOO-HOO!" she shouted as Toothless did one last victory sweep over the crowd who cheered causing the judges to duck. Once the display was over, the judges gave her a nine out of nine; a perfect score earning another large cheer from the crowd.

000

Hiccup returned to the sidelines with the others who had already gone shaking. What she had just performed was so exhilarating and freighting all at once. That was only the second time she and Toothless had done the trick so high up. The many falls into the ocean were not pleasant, but all that practice defiantly paid off.

Last up was Snotlout, and his took a moment to set up as large wooden hoops were placed into the stadium.

"I hear Snotlout is gonna try a trick called the Rings of Deadly Fire", Tuffnut said. "No one's ever tried it before."

"Yeah. Because it's too dangerous", Ruffnut said.

"No! Because he just made it up!"

"I'm probably gonna win just for coming up with this", Snotlout called to them. He took off and after doing a single loop to gain momentum Hookfang fired at the hoops setting them on fire. Snotlout was standing on Hookfang's back as they came up to the rings, when Hookfang suddenly screeched with **'fear'** and **'danger'**. He abruptly stopped sending Snotlout flying into the rings effectively knocking them all down like dominos. The crowd ohed and cringed at the sight. "Oh, it's a disaster!" Mulch said. Much of the Jorgensons, especially Spitelout, couldn't even look.

To finish off the embarrassing display, Snotlout's butt was left of fire and he ran with the usual scream to a trough of water to put it out. Spitelout was absolutely fuming from where he stood, especially when Snotlout received a complete and utter zero as his score.

As the third event for the day was being set up, Hiccup saw Snotlout staring up at the score board. Snotlout with his three points from the previous day, and Hiccup with two from the last events she had won. And, for the first time, Hiccup found herself engaging Snotlout.

"Wow, Snotlout, your dad looks _really_ mad right now", she teased looking up at the scowling man who shook his head with distaste.

"What do you know?! He always looks like that!" Snotlout replied defensively. Do you really think you have any shot at beating me?"

"As a matter of _I_ do have a shot at beating you."

"Do not!"

"Do to."

"Do not!"

"Do to! Think about it! Toothless is a _Night Fury_! And _I'm_ a _Halfling_ , not to mention being the best rider. How could I possibly lose?"

"Cause that's what you do! I win! _You! Lose!_ "

"Check the score board, Snotlout! Not anymore!"

Snotlout was so angry he couldn't get words out making sounds as if trying to say something but unable to through his immense anger. He walked away like that and Hiccup felt so powerful. Finally Snotlout was getting a taste of his own medicine. She couldn't help but smirk.

"What was _that_ all about?" Aric asked coming up.

"Just rattling cages", she answered.

As she walked off Aric asked dumfounded, "Since when do _you_ rattle cages?"

000

"The contestants are lined up for the Fly and Shoot where they must shoot down their foes and spare their friends."

Aric was up first and he did alright, only missing one foe, but he wasn't really paying attention to the competition anymore. Hiccup was acting stranger and stranger as the day progressed. Now she was picking fights with Snotlout? That wasn't a very 'Hiccup' thing to do. It was all very confusing and disconcerting. Hiccup had a tendency to bottle things up just waiting for it all to explode and even before the games had started it seemed she was unraveling bit by bit. He only hoped that was the case; that Hiccup's pent up anger was just coming out the wrong way and she wasn't turning into what he thought she was.

Speaking of which, it was Hiccup's turn. She went into the course, shot the Outcast models and spared the Berkian ones. Towards the end she had come to the spot where he'd messed up. Toothless landed and walked slowly through looking for anything that might pop up. The foe popped up in the boat and their ears perked to the sound turning and shooting it down.

"Hiccup and Toothless come through with a perfect score!"

Once again Hiccup and Toothless were the best.

Snotlout had a different outcome. Starting out through the course Snotlout ordered Hookfang to fire at an Outcast model, but the residue from the explosion of the wood caused Hookfang to lose control. He began firing at anything and everything in the model town.

"No! What! What are you doing?! STOP! SHOOTING!" Snotlout screamed at his dragon.

"SNOTLOUT! GET THAT DRAGON UNDER CONTROL!" Spitelout then shouted at his son.

"This does not look good for the reigning Thaw Festival champion", Mulch commented, and Hiccup received the third and final point.

000

She'd done it! She'd actually done it! Snotlout was finally going to lose because of _her_. Making her way alongside Snotlout to the stage sitting at the back of the stadium Mulch made the announcement.

"And for the first time in Thawfest history, we have a tie! Tomorrow these two young Vikings will go head to head in an event to decide the Thawfest champion!"

"I can't believe how lucky you are", Snotlout muttered over as they both smiled and waved to the crowd. "You don't even belong on the _stage_ with me."

"That's it…keep taking Snotlout", Hiccup replied as they began to depart. "As your family's winning streak goes up in smoke just like your rings of deadly fire", she finished.

Once again, Snotlout didn't have any coherent response, as well as kicking a bucket in anger as he stormed off.

"Hey, what's the matter? Yak got your tongue!" she called with a smirk.

000

This was unbelievable; what had Hiccup turned into? As he watched her and Snotlout's exchange Aric's thoughts had been confirmed. Just like Snotlout had belittled, picked on, and bullied Hiccup, Hiccup was now bullying Snotlout. He knew she was mad but what she was doing was just uncalled for. This had turned into something more than just wanting to shut Snotlout up; it had turned into revenge. And that wasn't the Hiccup he thought he knew.

"Hey, what's the matter? Yak got your tounge!" Hiccup called out to Snotlout who was storming off in fury.

"Hiccup…" Aric chastised.

"Oh, he's crumbling under the pressure. I can just feel it."

Aric's frown became even deeper.

"What?" she asked oblivious to what she was doing.

"You know what I always liked about you, Hiccup. You were always a gracious loser. Who knew you'd be such a lousy winner", he answered sadly before walking off.

Aric wasn't mad for Hiccup's actions; he was just disappointed. He always thought of her to be better.

000

Hiccup was confused by what Aric said and she couldn't stop thinking about it either. As she worked in the forge that night she couldn't get the words out of her head.

" _Who knew you'd be such a lousy winner."_

"Hmph. Lousy winner; I'll be a great winner." And that started by winning tomorrow's race. Hiccup doused the new connecting rod she had been hammering on in the water bucket beside her waking Toothless up from his nap. "You see this, bud? Lighter. Thinner. Oh this will help us to fly faster and turn quicker."

 **"Hiccup? Are you okay?"** Toothless asked noticing Hiccup's strange tone.

She didn't answer explaining the changes she made further. "I also stripped down your saddle. Light as a feather."

 **"That's great. But Hiccup—"**

"But this? This is what's gonna make the _most_ difference", Hiccup continued holding up a new tail fin. "A tail as thin as paper and even stronger than before. We're gonna be able to cut and turn better than we ever have. Snotlout, won't have a chance."

 **"Hiccup! Snap out of it!"** Toothless then roared slapping his tail in her face.

"Wha—Toothless?!"

 **"I thought you said these games don't matter? I love a good win as much as the next dragon, but… you're not acting like when we race Aric and Shadowstar. You're acting weird; different. Are you okay?"** Her best friend finished nuzzling against her.

"I'm fine, bud. And I'll feel even better once we win this thing. _I can just see his face now_."

Toothless only responded with a croon of worry but Hiccup didn't hear it too caught up in her own thoughts of the next day.

000

The morning of the tie breaker event, Hiccup and Snotlout had arrived early to prepare. Hiccup was doing some checks on Toothless' tail and saddle when her father showed up.

"Remember, dear", he started sternly, "No pressure."

' _Gee. Great encouragement, dad.'_ After her wins the previous day her dad was counting on her and expecting her to win. He was so happy and proud, and Hiccup defiantly didn't plan to disappoint. She looked over to see Snotlout and Spitelout, their conversation being one she didn't expect.

Snotlout was stretching when his father came up behind him. "Snotlout!" he then shouted.

"Yeah", Snotlout replied quickly and diligently turning around. "Hey, dad. Just stretching out the hammies, you know."

"Did you ever hear the story of how I almost _lost_ the Thawfest games?" Spitelout asked softly. And Hiccup knew that tone; it was sarcasm. But Snotlout didn't catch it.

"No. I never did."

"That's right. BECAUSE IT NEVER HAPPENED!" Spitelout then shouted, and Snotlout's face became one she hadn't seen before; true worry and fear. "No Jorgenson has even come close to losing the Thawfest games", his father continued walking towards him in a threatening manner and Snotlout stepped back. "Don't _you_ be the first."

Spitelout turned and left and the way Snotlout looked almost reminded her of the way she had often looked after speaking with her father. Before Toothless came along and the Red Death, that is. She knew Spitelout was a jerk, but she didn't think he would be so harsh to his son; she actually thought they got along great. She knew the Thawfest games meant a lot to the Jorgenson clan, but she never thought… It made her think of Aric's words for a moment and the way she'd been acting.

' _Snotlout doesn't need that'_ , she decided.

It wasn't long before the course was being set up and people began flood into the arena. Soon Mulch and Bucket took their positions and the last game was about to begin.

"Welcome to the final deciding event of this year's Thawfest games. The Obstacle Course race! Take it away, Gobber!"

"The race will start here in the stadium", Gobber informed standing in front of a diagram on the wall of said stadium. "Where, after the Log Dodge and the Cliff Climb, Hiccup and Snotlout will get on their dragons, loop around our flag ship anchored off the coast, slam through the sea stack maze, then head back here! The first one to pass that finish line is the winner!"

The crowd cheered with excitement.

"Look at those goosebumps!"

As Snotlout was stretching, getting ready for the race, Hiccup decided now was better than any to start being a good sport.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"

"No", Snotlout rudely denied.

"Okay. Uh, I just wanted to say…have a good race…and may the best Viking win", Hiccup finished extending her hand for a friendly handshake.

"Oh, _he_ will. Don't you worry your scrawny little dragon self about that", he instead replied. "See you at the finish line, Hiccup. Or, maybe I won't."

"Alright, I tried. If that's how you want it."

"That's exactly how I want it!"

Hiccup's eyes narrowed. Forget Snotlout's troubles. Snotlout just reminded her of why she was doing this. Of how angry she was. Why she wanted to win; he didn't deserve it. Not one bit. He didn't deserve any type of fame whatsoever. And why should she care about his problems with his dad? He never showed her any kindness or mercy; he only added to her misery, so why should she show him any. Forget what Aric said. She was going to win and she was going to make sure Snotlout _never_ forgot his failure. So, Hiccup smirked. _'If you say so…'_

"Vikings and dragons, take your positions!"

Hiccup and Snotlout did so.

"On your mark…"

They both went down on one knee preparing to run.

"Get set…"

They looked at each other with a glare.

"And…Go!"

They began to race off, but Hiccup didn't get very far as Snotlout decided to cheat and shove her down.

"Out of my way!" he said as he pushed her away allowing him a head start. Getting up, Hiccup raced to catch up, Snotlout having already passed through the Log Roll. Making it to the first obstacle, Hiccup dodged the first log by standing to the side, then the second one by using her wings. She wasn't allowed to fly but they never said anything about using them to jump. With a jump and one good pump, she evaded the log nicely. Snotlout was already half way up the Cliff Climb and Hiccup had yet to make it there yet. She picked up the pace.

000

Everyone watched as Snotlout made it to the second obstacle, making it to the portion where he would have to evade falling boulders. The first one missed him, but the second one hit him straight on.

"Ooh, rock to the face. I love a good rock to the face", Tuffnut commented.

Ruffnut took that as the opportunity to take a rock and slam it into his face.

"Yeah… that's what I'm talking about…" he said a little dazed.

The rock didn't faze Snotlout's climbing though. It only stopped him for a moment. Hiccup had now made it to the Cliff Climb and Stoick got up from his seat to get a better look; by this point everyone was out of their seats watching the race with anticipation. Hiccup had just made it to where Snotlout had been when the boy made it to the third portion. Getting on Hookfang, he zoomed off, and that's when the boulders came down on Hiccup who was beginning to struggle climbing up. That's when a boulder hit her and she lost her grip.

"She's falling!" Gobber yelled.

"Oh, I can't watch", Fishlegs said covering his and Meatlug's eyes.

000

When Hiccup lost her grip she panicked for a short moment. She was falling down the cliff, until she gathered her wits and decided to use her wings again. She caught herself by extending her wings and with just two or three short pumps she grabbed hold onto the cliff once more and used the little spikes on the bottom of her metal leg to help with her grip onto the rock.

"Yeah! That's my girl!" she could hear her father shout with pride among all the other shouts and cheers below. Hiccup sighed in relief, and continued her climb until she finally reached Toothless.

"Okay, bud", she said as she hopped on. "We got a lot of ground to make up. Let's go!"

With the duo's wings out they pumped their wings fast and in time speeding across the land and sea faster than they ever had before.

000

"Look at them go!" Mulch said in amazement.

The crowd watched as Hiccup and Toothless raced to catch up to Snotlout and very quickly doing so.

"She's closing in on Snotlout!" Gobber shouted obviously.

"I can see that, Gobber!" Stoick yelled in annoyance.

000

They were almost there; they just needed to pass him. Snotlout made it to the flag ship and looped around it. He then swept past her nearly hitting her head and creating a wind current.

"Hey, how's that feel?! Ha-ha-ha!"

After looping around the ship too, Hiccup narrowed her eyes. "Okay. Let's see what this new tail can really do."

She clicked the tail open, and feeling the allowance of speed, Toothless boost forward with power and speed she didn't know he possessed. She wasn't even sure if her wings were making a difference anymore.

000

"Whoa! Did you see that, Bucket? That sudden burst of speed", Mulch said.

Hiccup had now made it to the sea stack maze and they no longer saw the two. That is until they saw them come out momentarily from different directions. Snotlout from the left, and Hiccup from the right.

"Hiccup has to go the long way around!" Astrid noticed.

It didn't seem to matter though, as in a matter of seconds the duo then burst with speed again and raced towards Snotlout.

"She's closing in, Stoick!" Gobber said again.

"I can see that, _Gobber_!" Stoick once again replied.

They watched with anticipation as she closed in and even began to pass.

000

"Alright, bud. Let's finish this."

All they had to do was pass Snotlout and he'd never be able to catch them. Only a few more seconds and it would be all over. Toothless burst forward once again, and as they passed Snotlout Hiccup looked back with a smirk, but what she saw and heard made it fade.

"No. I can't lose? I can't lose! I can't lose…" he said with a look of desperation.

Just then something clicked and Hiccup's thoughts of victory and the end of Snotlout's reign stopped, realization flooding in. "What am I doing?" she asked herself. She couldn't take this away from Snotlout, could she? Now that she thought about it, Thawfest was really the only time Snotlout ever truly shined. And then thinking about that exchange with his father… Snotlout was always a jerk, and would continue to be, but did that mean she had to be the same? Is this what Aric was talking about? Was that why he looked so disappointed? Did she take it too far? Hiccup closed her eyes. There was only way to fix this. "I'm sorry, dad."

000

Hiccup was passing Snotlout and even from this distance Aric could see something changed. Soon, Snotlout was passing Hiccup and Toothless crashed into a sea stack.

"Something's wrong!" Fishlegs worried.

They went off course and one could only assume they had landed. Aric smiled. Nothing was wrong; _Hiccup_ only came back.

000

 **"Why did you do that?"** Toothless asked confused once more.

"It was the right thing to do. You were right. I wasn't being myself."

"Snotlout comes down the final stretch!" she could hear from the stadium. After another moment she heard it. "And Snotlout's the winner of the Thawfest games!"

A small smile graced her lips. "Come on, bud. Let's head back."

Toothless took off and as they flew Spitelout could be heard cheering a mile away. "Now _that's_ a _Jorgenson_!"

When she arrived she found the banner to the finish line on fire, no doubt done by Hookfang, and she landed next to said dragon as Snotlout dismounted him.

"Nice flying, Snotlout", Hiccup said as they walked to the stage where her father waited for them.

"Yeah. You put up a _good_ fight", he said as he extended his hand out it. She reached to shake it thinking he was actually being a good sport for once, but she thought wrong. "But not good enough. Ha-ha-ha."

Unlike before, she didn't respond; only glared slightly. _'And everything is back to normal.'_

Reaching the stage, the chief spoke. "It's been a spectacular Thawfest Games! Perhaps the best ever! These two young Vikings have put on quite a show! But, alas, there can be only one champion." The drums began to rumble. "The Thawfest dynasty continues! The winner, and still champion…" Snotlout began bouncing next to her. "Snotlout!"

"We did it!" Snotlout cheered, and Stoick gave him his medal as his family cheered.

"You did your family proud", Stoick said, and he turned to Hiccup smiling as if saying that was to her as well. The silent message made Hiccup smile in return.

She watched as Snotlout chanted with his father and ran around the stadium as happy as could be with a small smile still on her face. That smile was quickly wiped away when a punch came to her arm.

"Ow…What?!" she demanded turning to Aric as she rubbed her arm he'd just abused.

"I know what you did…" he said with a smile.

"Yeah. I lost. As usual", she dodgingly replied.

"No… You threw the race."

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about, Aric. Snotlout was just the better Viking today."

"No, Hiccup. No one was a better Viking than _you_ today."

That made Hiccup smile. She didn't know why or how it exactly happened, but just like when Aric kissed her the night he met Toothless, she gave Aric a quick and small kiss on the cheek before shyly walking away with a blush.

000

 _Yep. Second again. Some things never change. But, I guess some things are more important than winning, like being a good friend._

* * *

 **Yes. I know When Lightning Strikes comes first. But does that really matter with this episode?**


	11. When Lightning Strikes

**I have no excuse for tardiness other than that I had decided on my own accord to rewrite it. The first draft sucked, and I didn't want to give you something I found terribly written.** **My window of uploading will also now be from Friday-Monday depending, but probably mostly Monday.**

 **So, without further ado...** **On With The Show!**

* * *

 _ **When Lightning Strikes**_

 _Living with dragons has its ups and its downs. But you need to stay calm. Keep a clear head. Not always easy with Vikings. In our own way we're very reasonable, but when a problem is caused by something Vikings don't understand they lose all sense of reason, and with the right influence, that can become very dangerous. Take just two days ago for example. We had just finished building and setting dragon perches all over the island to prevent any more houses from needing roof repairs. That night was when it all started…_

000

"Perches for dragons; some of your best work", Stoick praised as he, Hiccup, and Gobber all sat around the table clinking their cups in celebratory. He sighed looking into his cup. "Although we might need to move the one over the well."

While Hiccup heard, the sentence didn't register as she lifted her cup to drink with her mind buzzing with ideas and her mouth unable to prevent them all from spewing out. "And the perches are just the beginning!" she said as her father placed a hand over the cup forcing her to put it down. He slowly dragged it away on the table as she continued on. "We could build landing areas for them! Maybe even stables in the caves underneath the village and—"

"Ea-easy, hun", her dad laughed. "Remember Berk is still for people."

"Vikings before dragons", Gobber added.

Thunder sounded outside and Toothless looked up to them with a childlike fear in his eyes, his body language telling Hiccup everything.

"Yeah I said it. Deal with it", Gobber replied misinterpreting.

Thunder sounded again, this time much louder, and scared Toothless ran upstairs. The chaos outside seemed to get louder and more frequent. It was a little strange and concerning so to see what was going on Stoick opened the door and stepped out to take a look. Hiccup and Gobber followed close behind and what they saw in the village was astonishing.

"Whoa, the lighting is hitting everywhere", Hiccup pointed out.

"It doesn't usually strike here in the village", Stoick pondered.

"Thor must be angry", Gobber concluded. "The only other time I can remember lightning _ever_ striking Berk…"

" " Barnstat" "

"Barn-who?" Hiccup asked having never heard of this person.

"Jürgen Barnstat. Drifter. Sailed into town. He was stealing from widows and old men", Stoick started in answer.

"To punish him, Thor gave him a lightning bolt right to his helmet when he was fixing the mast on his ship to make his escape", Gobber followed with a laugh. He directed to the burned looking helmet hung up on the wall of their house; it was something Hiccup never really thought about until now.

"By the time Thor was finished with him our whole fleet was on fire", Stoick continued on.

"We shipped him off the island and Thor hasn't hit the village since."

"Threw him off the island? Pretty harsh", Hiccup commented before lighting struck the village once more and screams caught their attention. The strikes had begun to touch the houses starting fires all over, and Stoick went into action.

"Gobber, organize a bucket brigade. I'm going up to the Great Hall", he said.

Hiccup followed as well calling Toothless to come in tow, but it was quickly regretted. As they stood just a few feet from the house another bolt of lightning struck far too close. It made Hiccup cringe with the loud noise, and frightened Toothless jumped and ran off in a panic.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called after him, but he didn't stop, and before she knew it he disappeared amongst the chaos.

000

Dragons carried and poured buckets from above while Vikings carried and threw them from below. Stoick did his best to help where he could as he made his way; fires were being contained, but others were spreading and new ones quickly formed from Thor's wrath. Whatever they had done to instigate it, Thor wasn't going to let Berk off with a warning.

000

"Toothless!"

Hiccup kept calling out, both in Norse and Dragonese, but no matter he wouldn't answer or show himself. At this point the dragon could be anywhere and he was too scared to think clearly; in his current state he could get hurt, or already be hurt. She made it to a hill where the twins sat watching the destruction.

"I've gotta find Toothless!" she said to no one in particular. The twins either didn't hear or ignored her for the show they were enjoying. A lightning bolt hit another house creating another fire, and it was clear that it was the former.

"Yeah, now that's what I'm talking about", Tuffnut said in comment.

"I've always liked Thor", Ruffnut commented as well.

"Oh, I love these storms!" Snotlout said as he and Fishlegs landed. "When it rains, I cancel bath night and stand outside with nothing but a sponge and a bar of soup."

' _Ugh, don't remind me. Just another part of the past I'd rather forget'_ , Hiccup thought disgusted with the memory of actually seeing him do it, the image unfortunately burned in her mind for eternity.

"We know. The village has had meetings about it", Fishlegs responded.

"I-I need your help. I need to find Toothless", Hiccup told Astrid as she landed nearby.

"I just saw him over by the Great Hall", she answered.

Hiccup extended her hand out for Astrid to help her up so she could show her, and they flew off to the Great Hall.

000

 _We found Toothless shortly after that. He was up on one of the metal perches when lightning struck at him. He jumped to the next perch, but the lightning would only follow striking at that one next. It only increased my worry fearing he would be hit. When he finally came down to me and the storm let up, I thought it was all over. I thought the danger had passed and my best friend was safe, but I couldn't have been more wrong…_

000

"Did you all see that?!" Mildew exclaimed.

The Vikings all murmured to each other trying to understand what it is they just saw.

"The lightning followed him!"

"Yeah."

"But why?"

"Don't you all understand?! Thor _is_ mad at all of us! And I'll tell ya why! Because of him." Mildew pointed directing everyone's attention to Toothless. "As you all know, the _Night Fury_ is the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. We've let him live among us! And now we will _all_ pay the price."

"Well it did seem as though the lightning struck right at the dragon", Mulch pondered.

"Yes! Right at the dragon! And a lightning storm the likes of which we've _never_ had! Thor is angry with us because of the Night Fury. You all saw it! There is but one thing for us to do. _Banish_ the Night Fury! It's the only way."

"What? No! You can't be serious! Have you all _forgotten_ what Toothless has done for this village?!" Hiccup shouted as she stayed beside Toothless with a hand on his head. Behind the manipulative old man she could see her father trying his best to stay stoic. As of late, even he had grown tired of Mildew. She could only imagine what he was thinking at the moment staring down at his people.

"Bah, it doesn't matter the few good deeds it's done. You're lucky Thor hasn't struck out at _you_.

"Hmph. Bet you wish he had", Hiccup muttered to herself.

"Why, if we don't act now—well… need I remind you of _Barnstat_ ", Mildew continued on, his herd beginning to fear and almost believe Mildew's claims.

"You're right; all of you!" Stoick finally intervened. "Thor _is_ angry. But I don't believe he's angry at Toothless."

"Well then who do you suppose he's angry at?" Mildew questioned him.

"I don't presume to know Thor's mind, _Mildew_. But we _will_ find a way to soothe his anger." With that the conversation was finished, and no one dared to question.

000

Later that night, Hiccup and Toothless sat in her room unable to sleep.

 **"One of your gods isn't really mad at me? Is he?"** Toothless asked as he sat at the side of the bed.

"No, of course not! Mildew probably just saw the opportunity and made the whole thing up."

 **"Or he really does believe it."**

"Hmm, well he _does_ believe I'm a dragon in human skin."

 **"He doesn't really think that"** ,Toothless said looking confused.

"At this point he probably does", she said back before sighing, looking down as Toothless went to his bed. She was getting tired of this game. She had known Mildew would never give up, but she wished he would. Now he was targeting Toothless, but in reality he was just targeting her. Given the chance, she bet Mildew would have tried to convince the village Thor was mad at her as well. He might still. Even so, she just wished Toothless was left out of it. She looked up and saw the dragon now sleeping soundly, a peaceful look on his face.

' _I promise, bud. I won't let anything happen to you. No matter what happens.'_

000

The teens and their dragons all gathered outside the storage house the following day. As Hiccup pet Toothless soothingly, Aric wondered how she was taking all this. This was the fourth time Mildew had come after her dragon, and he knew how much she loved him. She'd do pretty much anything for him. Whether it was simply because she could understand him, or the fact that they were closer in species, there was no denying the two had the tightest bond compared to any of them. Thunder roared and Hiccup looked up to the gray clouds.

"Another storm is coming", she said, her ears going down.

"Thor tore a hole in the Great hall", Tuffnut said. "Maybe he's hungry? I know I am."

"We need to make Thor happy", Hiccup continued on ignoring Tuffnut. "But what do you get the god of thunder and lightning?"

"In the past I know Thor's enjoyed a sacrifice or two", Fishlegs suggested.

"Let's sacrifice Tuffnut", Ruffnut suggested smiling and pointing to her brother.

"…Okay. What time should I be there? There better be fire involved", Tuffnut accepted.

"Nobody's being sacrificed!" Hiccup intervened.

"Not yet anyway", Snotlout added.

"We had an aunt who was cursed by Odin once", Astrid started. "She had to pay tribute to him by sailing to the end of the earth."

"Did it work?" Fishlegs asked.

"No clue", Aric cut in. "We all just assumed she couldn't find it because she kept showing up from the opposite direction." It was truly the strangest thing. No one in their family could ever figure it out.

"She may still be cursed to this day…" Astrid decided to end ominously causing Fishlegs to cower a little. Aric simply shook his head at Astrid's stupid antic.

"The gods have never been mad at anyone from our family", Fishlegs then said before doing some superstitious ritual. "Knock on wood… hop on one foot… slap a Jorgenson." His slap turned to be more of a poke and it caused Snotlout to shove him off before expressing his idea.

"If I were Thor, I would want a giant statue. Of myself. Snotlout as Thor."

"You do know we're trying to make him happy", Astrid stated.

"Exactly!" he exclaimed happily before kissing his biceps.

It caused Astrid to lurch forward sick. "I think I just threw up in my mouth."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea", Hiccup said as if thinking of something.

"It's not an idea it's a reflex."

"No, what? No, the statue."

Astrid's reflex kicked in. "There I go again."

"No! Not Snotlout! Thor!" Hiccup said, stopping Snotlout from his bicep kissing.

"Hmm… Berk has never given Thor a statue", Fishlegs said.

"Well then its high time we did."

000

With that they immediately went to work, and pretty soon the teens were finished with time to spare before the oncoming storm hit. There were a few snags, such as the twins using the hammers on each other instead of the metal, and Snotlout not knowing which way a knee bends, but nevertheless the statue was done and ready to be unveiled. It sat in the middle of town with a tarp covering it from the villagers' eyes whom were very interested as to what was underneath. Standing up front to the gathered crowd, Hiccup spoke.

"Attention! Attention everyone!" she started to quiet the Vikings. "Okay, so, I know we're not exactly Thor's favorite people right now. But, I am confident that this beautiful statue will go a long way to getting us back in his good graces. So, without further ado…"

Hiccup and Toothless both tugged on the large tarp, and the statue of Thor completely made from the metal found in the forge was revealed standing tall. The crowd awed at the magnificent statue.

"Well done!" Stoick praised. "Thor will appreciate this tribute and will smile upon us once again!"

The crowd clapped and cheered to that. All except one man who did nothing but frown and scoff, and anyone with half a brain could figure out who. "You really think this is enough to appease the mighty Thor while you allow not only one, but _two Night Furies_ in your midst?! You're fools! All of you!" Mildew finished shouting like mad. No one paid him much mind, but it seemed some of what Mildew said was true. That night, the storm had come and Thor seemed even angrier.

"Unbelievable. Even more lightning than the last storm", Hiccup said as she and her father gazed out the door along with Gobber who had joined them again.

"I don't understand. We gave Thor a giant statue", Gobber pondered. They went back inside and closed the door.

"It was a valent effort, dear, but it looks as though this is not what Thor wanted", Stoick said to her.

Loud thunder sounded and besides for Toothless' moan, Hiccup noticed Gobber had side stepped away from where she and Toothless stood.

"Gobber, what are you doing?" she asked breathlessly dumbfounded he would actually believe Mildew's theory.

"I love Toothless. I'm just airing on the side of caution."

 **"Now even he hates me."**

 **"Hey, don't you worry, bud. I'm not going to let anything happen to you"** , Hiccup responded as she pet the side of his head. "No matter WHAT SOME PEOPLE THINK!" she finished directing it to Gobber who shifted, but still aired on his side of caution.

000

Meatlug lumbered on through the house as the storm outside raged on. Her rider had disappeared shortly after the thunder and lightning had started, and she had a feeling that she knew where he'd be. Going into his room, she sniffed him out finding him under the bed. She blew the blanket away hiding the boy from view and with the motion he screamed startled.

 **"Found you!"** she said happily panting.

"I know you're scared, girl. If you need me, that's what I'm here for", Fishlegs told her giving her a hug as she wagged her tail. Her rider liked to project his fears and insecurities onto her, but she didn't mind. If Fishlegs needed her, she'd be there even if he wasn't ready to fully admit it. She gave him a nice comforting lick to show him that.

000

"Whoa, look at all that damage and destruction", Ruffnut said as she and her brother sat on the roof cracking nuts off each other's heads.

"I know. It's so beautiful", Tuffnut agreed.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Ruffnut exclaimed as lightning struck again setting another house on glorious fire.

"Nobody blows stuff up like Thor", Tuffnut said, a few tears leaking from his eyes at the sheer beauty of it all.

000

The rest of the village were terrified and worried unable to understand what they'd done wrong. A few went up to the statue praying and hoping for an answer, saying they were sorry, but it was only answered with a bolt hitting the statue, and with it, directing the lightning into the house in front of it.

" _That's_ what Thor thinks of the statue!" Mildew shouted furiously to the people. "I told you what he wants and we haven't given it to him! For all we know that Night Fury isn't the only one he's angry at us for!" he continued on, the Vikings wondering where he was going. What else could Thor be mad for? "Our little heir has become a little too dragon if you all haven't noticed. Constantly flaunting her abilities and embracing the Night Fury inside her. Until we rid this island of that _Night Fury_ and his Night Fury _spawn_ , Thor's fire will _continue_ to rain down upon us until _nothing_ is left!"

They all looked to each other pondering on Mildew's words. Toothless, they were on board for. It was the only explanation. But Hiccup? Could Thor truly be mad at her? Then again, she had been acting differently since the Night Fury had arrived. Lightning struck at the statue again, and it no longer mattered; just as long as their village was saved from Thor's wrath. With fury, they shouted in agreement, and as one the villagers went to the chief's house to send the Night Furies away for good.

000

Inside the Haddock household Hiccup sat with a freighted Toothless; both from the noise outside and the threat of the Berkian villagers coming after them. Hiccup did her best to soothe him. She pet, nuzzled, and hummed to him, but nothing seemed to really relax him. And really, she couldn't blame him. She was nervous too.

"You don't really think Thor is angry because of _Toothless_? Do you?" Hiccup asked her father.

"Of course I don't", he answered as she'd hoped. A knock was then heard outside and they could hear Mildew shouting outside the door with his herd shouting with anger behind him.

"Open up, Stoick! We've come for the Night Fury!"

"But I'm afraid they do", Stoick finished. "Get Toothless to a safe place. I'll try to reason with them."

Hiccup mulled over what he said for a moment, but there really was no safe place on Berk. No matter where they went, they'd be spotted eventually. They'd have to leave. No. She had to stay and help figure this out. Getting up, Hiccup ran to her father to stop him.

"But—" she attempted to start as she grabbed onto his arm effectively turning him around. He only interrupted.

"Just go", he ordered her, and knowing there was no time for argument she relented.

"Safe travels, old friend", Gobber said to Toothless, before Hiccup pointed up to the window above her bed and, running up to it, they hopped out.

Now outside, Hiccup peaked around the house to see the mob. There were so many people, probably more than half the village; so many people that no longer trusted Toothless. But then again, did they ever really trust him? Did they ever really accept him? Her mind flashed for a moment of what that could mean for her. If they really accepted or trusted her? But it was quickly wiped away. This wasn't about her. It was about Toothless; her dragon, her best friend, her brother. Hiccup then turned to Toothless; her first true friend.

 **"Don't you worry, bud. It's** _ **you**_ **and** _ **me**_ **"** , she crooned.

 **"Always"** , Toothless said, although sadly knowing what she meant.

The two ran off, not noticing the lightning bolt that nearly struck at Toothless' tail.

000

"Give 'em up, Stoick! Look at your people, we've had enough!" Mildew shouted, as usual, leading his herd of sheep.

"You're too late", Stoick said, to Gobber's surprise. "He's gone."

"Stoick's already sent the dragon off the island", Gobber followed seeing where the chief was going.

Lightning and thunder roared violently once more. " _Thor_ says otherwise. They must still be on the island! Find the Night Fury!"

000

"We can hide Toothless in the cove for now", Aric said to Hiccup on a cliff behind the houses at the edge of town.

"They'll just find him. No. We have to leave."

"We?"

"He can't make it on his own. And I wouldn't want him to. I'm going with him, Aric."

"But that's exactly what Mildew wants. You know that. You're playing right into his hands, Hiccup. I thought that's what you didn't want!"

"I know. But it not like I have a choice. For Toothless' own safety, we have to leave."

"But you'll come back, right?"

"Yeah. Eventually. When they all realize this didn't happen because of Toothless."

Aric knew she was right. If they left and the storms persisted Mildew would have no choice but to admit he was wrong. It wasn't like it was forever. No doubt, before the week was up, Hiccup and Toothless could return home.

"Where will you go?" he asked.

"I guess we'll head for Dragon Island. Why?"

"You're going to need someone to tell you when you can return. We won't stop trying to figure out what's really going on." he said, finishing his sentence with a short hug. It was interrupted by shouts of villagers. "You better go."

Hiccup just stared at him with sad eyes for a moment almost like she wanted to say something, but didn't as she then quickly mounted Toothless and flew off. For a moment he stared off after them wondering why she looked at him like that, when Mildew came and Shadowstar came to his side in protection from the horrid old man.

"Where's the girl?! And more importantly, where's the dragon!" Mildew furiously demanded.

"I don't know, Mildew. But, you _got_ your wish. Hiccup and Toothless are _gone_. I hope you're happy", Aric answered harshly.

"Oh, bah!" the man dismissed. "Find the dragon! All of ya! If we find one, we're sure to find the other!"

' _You can search all you like, but you'll never find them'_ , he thought both angrily and sadly turning to look in the direction Hiccup and Toothless fled seeing the clouds crackle with lightning.

000

As Hiccup had thought, Mildew and his herd found the cove; quicker than she'd expected, but found it nonetheless. She and Toothless just watched for a moment still letting this moment sink in. This was actually happening.

The people of Berk had actually turned on Toothless. She wished they weren't all such a bunch of followers, so stubborn that they could fall back onto old thoughts so easily. This was clearly what her dad had meant when he said he would have had to send her away when they made that deal all those years ago. He was right; the village would have never accepted her. They didn't even accept Toothless, a dragon who had been nothing but faithful. Despite all he'd done, despite how many times it seemed the village loved him and accepted him, it seemed with one incident and the words of Mildew all of that flipped right on its head. This wasn't the first time the village turned their backs on Toothless. Sure, he was a Night Fury, but he wasn't the 'unholy offspring of lightning and death itself'. She wished she knew where that title came from now more than ever. She thought his kind and curious nature, as opposed to a demonic one, had been clear and the stigma towards his species done with. But, it appeared not. They still feared Toothless just as much as they had the first day he had appeared in the raids. And now, thanks to that title, they had to leave.

Hiccup's mind wandered to Aric next and how she'd left. She had wanted to say some things before she flew off, but for some reason couldn't. She'd chickened out and just ran off like a coward; oh how she hated thinking of it like that, but it was true. She had no reason to not say anything that had been on her mind at the moment; had been on her mind for a while actually. But, for some strange reason she just couldn't say it. She hated feeling like this more than ever. Hiccup took a deep breath to calm her raging mind and told herself that she'd have another chance. This departure wasn't going to be forever. She'd see him again. She'd see them all again.

 **"Come on, Toothless. Let's go."**

 **"I'm sorry…"** he apologized. For what she didn't know; none of this was his fault.

"Don't be", she simply replied.

Toothless took off and they were back in the gray skies. Dark clouds surrounded them but all seemed quite peaceful. They would be able to get to Dragon Island and wait it all out in no time. However, suddenly thunder boomed, and flashes were seen in the clouds. Nothing happened for a little while, so the two relaxed a bit, until a lightning bolt nearly hit. Toothless thankfully swerved to the side in time, but then another came and another, until they were finally hit and going down.

"TOOOTHLEEESSS!"

 **"HOLD ON!"** Toothless roared back as the two fell out of the sky into Berk's forests below. They hit tree after tree until finally stopping when hitting the ground. Toothless was up first, and then grabbing Hiccup's vest, he got Hiccup up too.

"Ugh. You okay, bud. Think I am." She had a few scratches, but it was nothing she couldn't take care of.

 **"I'm alright. Well, except…"** he replied turning to his tail.

His tail was ruined. The fabric was completely burned off, and the metal was all bent. Some rods were even glowing. She went up to it to examine finding something off about it. She reached out to touch it, but when she placed her hand on one of the connecting rods, her hand was burned. She quickly pulled her hand away.

"Ah. That's where the lightning hit." Thunder sounded and she looked up to a view of the village in the distance. Every single lightning strike hit only what was metal; only the perches and the statue. "Metal. I wonder…"

As Hiccup was beginning to think she figured out what was going on, out of nowhere a bola came flying knocking her down as Toothless became tied up and shoved away.

"Secure the dragon!" Mildew yelled and the people followed his order heading for Toothless.

"Toothless!" she shouted in fear. Hiccup began to run to him, but she was suddenly grabbed by the arm and pulled towards Mildew. "No! Leave him alone!" she demanded as she was being dragged.

"Don't try and stop us, you'll only make it worse for you and your _precious_ dragon!" Mildew told her.

She turned around and saw as they began to muzzle and chain him down, ready to take him away. Hiccup felt a great surge of panic.

"Toothless!" She lunged forward, but was caught by two men this time, and they didn't let go.

"Don't worry, Hiccup. You're coming too. Can't let any Night Furies on our island after all", Mildew chimed.

"What?!" He couldn't be serious. He'd actually turned the village on her too? How? When? "You can't do this! Let me go!" Hiccup shouted as she struggled from the men's grips on her arms.

Toothless was being wheeled away and she was about to be carried along herself, when Hiccup had enough, her pupils sliting in anger and fear. She kicked one man's calf with her metal leg, then to the other, she swung her tail into his gut with all her might. Their grips had loosened a bit and unfurling her wings she hit both the men's faces making them momentarily let go of her just long enough for her to take off and head for the village as fast as possible. She needed to fix this, before it was too late.

000

The villagers returned with Toothless chained up and ready to be sailed off to Thor knows where. He didn't see Hiccup, so either she'd gotten away, or something much worse had happened. Stoick hoped for the former. Pushing through the crowd, Stoick and Gobber made it to Toothless before they got him on the boat; this madness needed to stop.

"I know you're afraid! But this _isn't_ how we do things on Berk!" Stoick told them. "These dragons are _not_ the beasts we once thought they were. They're part of us now!"

"Not this one! Not anymore!" Mildew retorted furiously.

" _Release_ the dragon, Mildew", Stoick said trying to keep his composure, but the old man didn't lay off.

000

When Aric had heard the commotion outside, he looked out to see Toothless being wheeled to the docks. Along with Astrid they raced out to find Hiccup. If she wasn't with Toothless, she was either in trouble, or was going to be. They then caught her in the forge searching frantically for something when she grabbed hold of a large metal rod.

"Hiccup! They've got Toothless! They're about to float him off to sea!" Astrid exclaimed.

"I know. Why do you think I have _this_?" Hiccup said in answer holding out the rod.

"Ooh, tough one", Tuffnut said. "How many guesses do we get?"

"Oh, gods... Aric, come with me. I may need you."

She grabbed his arm dragging him out, and they hopped onto Shadowstar heading for the docks. Aric didn't know what exactly she was up to, but knowing Hiccup it was probably something cleverly stupid.

000

The villagers advanced to get to Toothless, but Stoick wouldn't let them get to the dragon no matter what. "If you want to get to that dragon, you're gonna have to go through us!"

He unsheathed his sword prepared to fight his people to protect the Night Fury, and Gobber stood with him with his hammer-hand prosthetic. Mulch and Bucket then pushed their way through the crowd to join them.

"Thank you, lads", Stoick said glad to see there were at least a few who still listened to him.

"I-if we're choosing sides Mulch, there's more over there. Lots more", Bucket whispered over to Mulch second guessing the decision.

"We stand with the Chief, Bucket!" Mulch simply and determinedly answered.

The villagers advanced for attack; a fight was about to ensue, when a dragon came barreling through knocking the oncoming Vikings away.

"Stop!" Hiccup's voice sounded.

Aric's dragon landed, and Hiccup hopped off getting in front of the villagers holding a metal rod in her hands for some reason.

"Stop! You could get rid of Toothless! You could throw _us both_ off the edge of the world! But it's not gonna stop this lightning from destroying Berk!"

A woman came forward to grab Hiccup when Aric had Shadowstar shoot her plasma between them stopping the Viking.

"It's the metal!" Hiccup exclaimed holding the rod above her head. "The lightning is hitting the metal! Just think about it. We've never had a storm like this, until we put up those perches. That statue, right? And they're _all_ made of metal!"

"Oh, bah! You ever heard of anything so insane?!" Mildew exclaimed undermining her logic, and the people seemed on board. They didn't believe her. But she had more proof. Hiccup ran to Toothless, and placing the metal rod down, she showed his ruined tail fin to them.

"Y-you see? This is where the lightning struck Toothless. On this connecting rod; this _metal_ connecting rod." Somehow, they still showed no sign of changing. "Look, if you don't believe me I can prove it!" Taking the metal rod in her hands again, Hiccup took off with the mast of the ship as her destination.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Aric asked as he flew beside her.

"Sure? Uh, that's a strong word. It's more of a hunch", Hiccup answered landing on the mast. It only seemed to worsen his concern. "I'll be fine. Go."

He did, and standing on the mast with the metal rod, Hiccup directed her attention to the village.

"Oh boy, here she goes again", Gobber said.

"She doesn't make it easy. Hiccup!" her father shouted up at her.

She didn't listen though. One way or another, she needed to prove to them that it was the metal.

"You'll all see for yourselves!" Hiccup yelled down, lightning and thunder booming making her cringe. She raised the rod into the air. "When I attach this metal rod to the top of this mast—"

Another strike; she had to do this quick.

"The lightning will be drawn to—" Lightning struck, and all she knew was fire, her body convulsing as electricity coursed through her. The last thing she remembered was the feeling of weightlessness, and later, the sight of someone or something coming for her.

000

"When I attach this metal rod to the top of this mast…the lightning will be drawn to—"

Gasps and screams could be heard as lightning struck the rod directly, the electricity encasing Hiccup.

"Hiccup!" Stoick screamed in utter terror.

She went limp, the rod falling out from her hand and landing onto the deck, and she fell from the mast into the ocean below.

Toothless needed to free himself; he had to save his sister. As he struggled and pulled, he heard Hiccup's friend, Aric's, voice.

"Shadowstar!" he said pointing somewhere towards him.

 **"Hold still, Toothless!"** Shadowstar told him.

He did his best to do as she said, and in the next moment her spines were thrown into the bonds weak points. Quick as the lightning that struck down his sister, Toothless broke out from his chains and dived into the water after Hiccup.

He had to swim fast; she was sinking down further, her eyes opening for a second before they closed again, and she sank further going completely limp in the water.

000

Toothless was only in the water for a few moments, but they felt like an eternity to Stoick as he gazed into the water after the dragon. When he finally came back up Stoick sighed in somewhat relief.

"Hiccup…"

The Night Fury pulled her up onto the dock and was nudging her as if trying to rouse her. Stoick ran to Hiccup with Gobber in tow. He lifted her up a little, his daughter once again unconscious, and he sighed shaking his head. He then turned to his people all with shocked and fearful expressions; all except Mildew who he swore he saw smiling. The chief's eye's narrowed.

"Gobber, take her to Gothi. I'm going to deal with them", he said.

Gobber lifted Hiccup up about to take her as Stoick had told him to. "Don't be too hard on them, Chief."

Gobber left with Toothless following closely, and Stoick turned his attention to the village.

"I told ya", Mildew spoke out acting as if what happened only proved him claims. "Thor is angry with the Night Furies. They were the only ones to have been struck with Thor's lightning. If we don't do something now, this lightning will never cease!"

"No. _None_ of you will lay a hand on Hiccup, _or_ Toothless", Stoick responded in order. Seeing the metal rod lying on the deck of the ship from when it fell from Hiccup's hand, Stoick went to pick it up. It was glowing, still red hot from the bolt Thor had sent. He showed it to the village. "Hiccup was right. Look for yourselves." He tossed it to the ground below their feet. "Thor didn't strike her down. He aimed for the metal directly."

His people looked to the side of the rod seeing he was right, and they looked astonished, some even looking sorry. Mildew looked as if he was going to speak again, but Stoick wasn't going to allow him that. He wasn't going to let the old man sway their minds ever again.

"If Thor wanted Toothless gone, he would have said so the first month I allowed the dragon into my home. There wasn't even a storm. And if Thor had wanted Hiccup gone, if he had truly aimed to strike her, you know he would have done so long before Hiccup even met Toothless. You were _wrong_. Now for once, own up to it", Stoick finished directing his last statement to Mildew.

It wasn't the only thing he wished he would own up to. But, as usual, Mildew didn't. Instead the old man scoffed and walked off without another word.

000

Warmth; she felt warmth. It wasn't like the heat she remembered, but it wasn't the cold she'd felt shortly after. She also no longer felt the weightlessness she had before. She was lying on something; something hard, but familiar.

Sitting up, Hiccup grunted putting her hand on her head feeling a massive ache. Opening her eyes, Hiccup found she was in her room with Toothless at the side of the bed, and her heart leaped with joy.

"Toothless. What happened, bud?"

Before he could answer, Hiccup moved to check something first. Shifting to sitting on the edge of the bed, she looked down at her right leg thankfully seeing it completely intact.

"Least I did lose another one."

 **"Silly"** , Toothless said as he pressed his head to hers, Hiccup leaning her head in return and placing her hand under his chin in a sort of hug. They heard footsteps and Hiccup looked up to see her dad and Gobber coming up the steps.

"My little girl, you're all right", her father said with relief an joy before lifting her up and tossing her up her like when she was four years old. "You took a lightning bolt to the head", he then said as he put her down petting her head a little.

"Just like Barnstat", Gobber stated. "Except we won't be throwing you off the island."

"So… everyone knows Thor wasn't really mad at me or Toothless?" Hiccup asked.

"They do now", Stoick confirmed.

"Until we figure out _why_ Thor was angry at the metal, we're all walking on eggshells", Gobber added.

Loud banging sounds were heard, and the three went outside to see what was making it. Stepping out into the bright sunny morning, they saw the statue of Thor Hiccup and her friends had all built only the previous day.

"Oh, we worked so hard on that statue. Kind of a shame to just scrap it for parts", Hiccup lamented.

"Well, maybe we don't have to", her dad said putting a hand on her shoulder from behind. "Why don't you take it to one of the high points on the island and leave it there?"

"Good idea, Chief!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "Would have thought of it myself, but I'm not the chief."

"Oh, we'll handle that for you", Snotlout said.

Hiccup looked after them skeptically, and decided to follow the two to see what exactly they were up to.

000

Mildew sat in his home eating his breakfast in relative peace. He was still rather upset over what happened the previous night. That dragon should have been gone, and that little demon along with him. If that girl hadn't gotten away, he would have finally gotten somewhere in getting rid of the horrid dragons that plagued their once glorious island. Hiccup always seemed to find a way to get everyone back on the side of dragons. She risked her own life countless times for the beasts. If that didn't say she was one of them, completely blinded and devoted in trying to lead the Vikings to their demise he didn't know what did. The girl was a demon who had to be stopped. The moment she was born, Stoick should have drowned her. He couldn't understand why he hadn't. Whatever she was, it wasn't natural; she was a monster. A mistake who never should've been given life. He needed some way in getting rid of Hiccup first and foremost. Forget killing two birds with one stone any longer. In order to get rid of the dragons, he had to get rid of Hiccup. But how? He'd already tried killing her, and he tried pinning the village against her, if only briefly, but the girl always seemed to pull through in the end. If he didn't know better he'd think the gods were protecting her, but that didn't make any sense. She was an unholy demon. Why would they want to protect her? What he needed was something clever. Something that could outsmart the smartest girl on the island. The only question now was what?

His thoughts were immediately stopped when he heard a sound like something had fallen. Probably some stupid dragon decided to sleep on his roof again. Mildew grumbled irritably as he went over to the door and swung it open. Standing in front was the metal statue of Thor. A rope was dropped on his head and he saw three dragons flying away. _'Of course. Stupid kids!'_

000

"You'll pay for this!" Mildew screamed after them as she, Snotlout, and the twins flew off.

"I'm not sure that's what my dad had in mind, guys", Hiccup commented, hoping this wouldn't bite them in the butt later on.

"Hey, that's the way I understood it", Snotlout said, before laughing along with Tuffnut.

Later that day, after Hiccup had returned home, a knock was heard at the door. When Hiccup went to answer it she found practically the whole village at their door step. They came in with food and gifts expressing how sorry they were to Hiccup and Toothless, as well as Stoick. Hiccup and Toothless both happily accepted them, and it seemed things were finally going back to normal.

 **"Your village gives the best apologies"** , Toothless said happily after eating a mackerel.

000

 _Fear is a crazy thing. From fear of a noise, to words unsaid, to someone's life, or something you just don't understand, fear can make anyone act unlike they normally would. It can make them unreasonable and irrational. Mildew's used anger, distrust, and now fear, and besides the Blue Oleander, this was the most dangerous. There was actually a moment where I thought he would win; when I thought the village would never believe me. But, there was one thing he didn't count on. No matter how much things change around here, Vikings are still Vikings. Unlike him, they're not afraid to admit when they're wrong. And when they do, trust me watch out, 'cause you'll be up to your ears in pie and smoked fish._

000

Looking up from her journal, Hiccup saw Toothless sleeping ever so soundly and she smiled. She was about to go to sleep too, putting her journal down, but suddenly her bed seemed rather empty and cold. She climbed off the bed and went over to Toothless cuddling up against him and using his scales like a nice warm pillow. Closing her eyes, she hoped the peaceful moment could last forever. Unfortunately, it could only last so long.


	12. When Lightning Strikes (Alternate Scene)

**Alternate Scene: The Lightning Rod**

 **The reason I didn't use it? It's complicated. I liked both, but the other one worked in the grander scheme of things when ending it. This is literally the reason this chapter was delayed a week.**

* * *

"If you want to get to that dragon, you're gonna have to go through us!" Stoick exclaimed unsheathing his sword. Pretty soon Bucket and Mulch pushed through the mob joining them in defending Toothless as well, but they were still heavily outnumbered. A fight was about to break out when Shadowstar swooped down and through the crowd knocking the oncoming Vikings down.

"Stop!" Hiccup exclaimed.

They landed and Hiccup got off. "Stay here", she told them, before turning her attention back to the crowd. "Stop! You could get rid of Toothless; you could throw us _both_ off the edge of the _world_! But it's not going to stop this lightning from destroying Berk!"

A woman came forward to grab her when Aric had Shadowstar shoot her plasma between them stopping the Viking.

"It's the metal! The lightning is hitting the metal!" Hiccup continued lifting the metal rod in her hands. Lightning followed making her cringe at the fear of the bolt coming for it. "Just think about it. We _never_ had a lightning storm like this, until we put up those perches! That statue! Right? And they're _all_ made of _metal_!"

"Oh, bah! You ever heard of anything so insane?!" Mildew exclaimed undermining her logic, and the people seemed on board. They didn't believe her. But she had more proof. Hiccup ran to Toothless, and placing the metal rod down, she showed his ruined tail fin.

"Y-you see? This is where the lightning struck Toothless. On this connecting rod; this _metal_ connecting rod." Somehow, they still showed no sign of changing. "Look, if you don't believe me I can prove it!" Taking the metal rod in her hands again, Hiccup took off with the mast of the ship as her destination. But she didn't get far.

"I don't think so!" Mildew said as he used his hooked staff to hook around Hiccup's waist, and forced her down crashing into the deck in front of the still angry and irrational Vikings. The rod was thrown from her hands in the fall landing near Aric and Shadowstar, and in no time at all Hiccup was apprehended.

"No! Stop it! You can't do this!" Hiccup shouted.

"Unhand my daughter this instant!" Stoick ordered with fury, but no one listened.

"Open your eyes, Stoick. It's the only solution and _you know it_ ", Mildew said.

"Aric!" Hiccup exclaimed as she struggled in a villager's grasp. "Get the rod to the top of the mast! Once you attach it, the lighting should be drawn to it! Hurry!"

"Okay!" Taking the rod, he mounted Shadowstar again and they flew up to the mast.

"Son! Get down from there!" Aric's father called.

The boy didn't listen. With two hands, he raised the rod up above his head, and just when Aric was about to slam it on disaster struck. Hiccup's eyes widened in horror. A lightning bolt came straight for him, and Aric was hit; the electricity encased his entire body.

"Son!" "No!" his parents shouted with terror.

He listed to the side, eyes closing and fell right off of his dragon into the ocean below.

"Aric!" Hiccup screamed, and without even thinking, before Shadowstar could even dive into the water after him, Hiccup ran from the Viking's now nonexistent grip and dived into the ocean.

000

"Hiccup!" Stoick shouted after Hiccup as she dived into the cold dark waters.

People were gathering around scared and confused. It all happened so fast, but now two teenagers were under water and in danger. Toothless was freaking out himself and while Shadowstar had dived under, his instincts still told him to go after his sister. With all the strength he could summon he tore through his bounds and freed himself with a roar diving into the ocean after his best friend.

000

Hiccup swam down as fast as she could, her metal prosthetic leg not helping one bit. She was losing him; she couldn't swim fast enough, and he was sinking further down. Hiccup was running out of time. She would need to come up for air soon, and there was no telling how long before Aric needed air too; Hiccup could barely see him anymore when Shadowstar dived under and appeared next to her, quickly followed by Toothless, and Hiccup grabbed onto them. The two dragons helped her swim down much faster and in almost no time they made it to Aric. Hiccup did her best to get him onto Shadowstar, and then she motioned for the hybrid to swim up and the dragon obeyed, quickly getting her rider to safety. Then, quickly losing oxygen, Hiccup grabbed onto Toothless and he swam up as fast as possible jumping out of the water and onto the dock.

Hiccup coughed and gasped for air, but when her dad came to check on her Hiccup dismissed it needing to make sure Aric was okay. Getting up she saw the boy passed out with his parents holding him close with worry.

"He's alive", his mother told her with gratitude and she smiled at the mother with it. It quickly faded looking at the boy whose life she put in danger in the first place.

* * *

 **Again, I really liked this scene, but unfortunately, it had to go. :(**


	13. What Lies Beneath

**IF YOU'RE NEW JUST IGNORE THIS AND CARRY ON TO THE PARAGRAPH BELOW:** **For anyone who's already read this chapter you don't have to again.** **I just needed to update an important detail of Toothless' findings in light of the new film that I literally just came home from watching. As you can probably tell I'm one of those people that have a issue with leaving well enough alone. I know, I know, I'm working on it. But...this was important.**

 **The main conflict/point of this episode is inspired from Hello Future Me's theory on the Whispering Death and Toothless. The video is called "THEORY: Toothless' Nemesis-The Whispering Death" if you want to check it out. I did add a few things to the theory, so it's not like you'd be spoiled if you watched it first. And yes, I purposefully changed the name to Lies instead of Flies. 'Lies' is just more powerful and impactful for this episode than with the pun.**

 **Also WARNING because I'm paranoid: SHORT MENTION OF BLOOD**

* * *

 ** _What Lies Beneath_**

 _Everybody has a past, even dragons. And sometimes, that past can come back to haunt them…_

000

Toothless kept growling and snarling at something, but Hiccup's tired mind just wanted to go to sleep. They'd had a tough couple of days with the lightning storm, plus taking down all the perches, and Hiccup could have cared less at whatever had gotten the dragon so riled up. It was probably nothing; just something he heard in the wind. Toothless continued growling.

"Ugh. Toothless, go back to sleep", Hiccup tiredly told him. She laid her head back on her pillow closing her eyes and hoping the Night Fury would listen. He likely did, for she didn't hear a peep from him as she descended back into her dreams.

 **000**

Toothless barely slept all night. He swore he smelled _his_ scent. After a while he'd thought he would never see that dragon again, but it seemed the dragon finally tracked him down ready to finish what was started. Toothless only hoped he was wrong as he and his sister walked together. They then came across a hole lying in the village, Hiccup's father and former mentor standing beside it, and Toothless' hope was crushed.

 ** _'No. Not here. Not again.'_** Last night, it could have just been a mistake. He could have just thought it was _his_ scent. But, no, he recognized that type of hole. It was all too familiar, the memories buried deep in his mind.

Rage fueled him. He lunged towards the hole smelling _his_ scent inside. Toothless knew that scent anywhere. There was no doubt about it; _he_ was here. Toothless roared to the sky, the intense emotions flowing through him becoming all too much.

"Whoa, easy there bud. It's just a hole", Hiccup said naively trying to calm him down. She didn't know. But that was okay; she didn't need to.

Toothless couldn't clam down. Anger and fear coursed through him, his teeth bared, and he needed to _do_ something.

000

Toothless had lunged towards the hole sniffing it, and the next thing Hiccup knew Toothless was rearing back roaring into the sky distressed.

"Whoa, easy there bud. It's just a hole", she said trying to ease him. It was the strangest thing. What could have gotten him so riled up?

"It's not just a hole!" Bucket shouted from inside. "It's like an underground village!"

"Bucket, oh, there you are! I've been looking for ya all night!" Mulch called down.

"Sorry, Mulch. But I think I finally found it! My happy place!"

His happy place didn't stay happy for too long. In the next second Bucket was shoved out of the hole, thrown into the air and down onto the solid ground.

"Are you alright, Bucket?" her father asked.

"Not so happy any more" he replied.

"What happened?"

"Something pushed me out. Something's down there! Something big!"

 **"I know you're down there…Show your face!"** Hiccup heard Toothless growl and snarl. She turned to see her dragon jump down into the hole. A strange whispering sound then started; the ground beneath them shaking.

"What is that sound?" Aric asked perplexed. Whatever was down there, Hiccup had a feeling would show its face soon; Toothless was probably trying to draw it out.

"Whatever it is it's giving me the willies", Gobber said as the sound became louder.

The ground continued to shake, the earthquake becoming faster, and they backed away from the hole soon running out of the way as a huge dragon covered in spikes and sharp spinning teeth emerged from the ground shrieking at them with rage.

"Whoa… look at the size of that thing", Snotlout commented.

"Do I have to?!" Fishlegs whined.

"Dragons! Everyone!" Aric ordered them, and they did so as Hiccup stayed where she was listening to the dragon.

 **"Where are you…"** he quietly growled. _'You?'_ Hiccup questioned. **"You can't hide forever!"** he then roared followed by diving back into the ground. Everyone stood stunned.

"What. Was. That?" Astrid asked with hushed terror masked as shock.

"Whatever it was, I want one", Tuffnut said.

"If I had to take a guess, I'd say that was…a Whispering Death", Fishlegs said.

"Whoa, great name." Tuffnut then covered his dragon's ears. "So much better than Zippleback", he whispered.

 **"I heard that"** , Belch retorted.

Meanwhile, Bucket was freaking out standing on a barrel scared out of his mind. "Where'd it go? Wh-why's it here? What's it gonna do to us?! Why aren't you slapping me to snap me out of this?!"

"Because I'm scared too, Bucket", Mulch replied cowering a top a barrel too.

The Whispering Death was gone for now, but Hiccup had no doubt it would be back. It had tracked someone here, and likely wouldn't leave until he found them and tore them apart. That's when Hiccup realized Toothless had never come back up. Where was he? Why did he never come back to help defend them? She hoped nothing bad happened to him down there.

The ground shook again with a vengeance, and up came the Whispering Death again shrieking with rage once more; he was becoming impatient.

"Eh, it looks angry", Gobber said. "Why don't you do that thing where you touch its nose and feed it grass?"

"Okay…! Uh, Fishlegs, what do we know about the Whispering Death?!" Hiccup called.

"Boulder class! Razor sharp teeth, incredibly strong, hunts from underground!" Fishlegs listed.

"Now I really want one", Tuffnut said once again unsuccessfully covering his dragon's ears.

"So, how do we deal with this thing?!" Snotlout said wanting to cut to the chase.

"Stand back, everyone!" Stoick commanded as he rode in on Thornado going to deal with the issue himself. "Thornado's got something to say to this beast!"

Thornado attacked sending out a light sonic roar as a warning to the Whispering Death. It didn't work.

 **"Where is the Night Fury!"** the Whispering Death instead roared.

 **"Why do you need to know?!"** Thornado responded rhetorically.

"I don't think it's got its listening ears on", Gobber told Hiccup having only understood that the two roared at each other.

Hiccup instead had a different comment. "Why does he want Toothless?" she thought out loud.

"Alright, let's run this thing out of here!" Aric said before taking off and the other riders following suit. They hovered in front of it ready to initiate their attack, but Toothless then popped out of the hole.

 **"Stand back!"** Toothless ordered them. **"He's mine…"** he then growled lowly.

Being that he and Hiccup were technically, although unofficially, their alphas, the dragons followed the order and backed off confusing their riders.

"What is Toothless doing?!" Snotlout called.

"I think he wants us to back off?" Astrid answered in a guess.

"No problem here", Fishlegs said having Meatlug back away.

 **"You!"** the Whispering Death hissed.

 **"You!"** Toothless roared back with fury.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called to him with distress.

Just as she feared, the Whispering Death finally attacked; he'd found his target. He dived at Toothless, but missed the swift dragon who dodged and then lunged at his opponent briefly pinning him to the ground. The Whispering Death escaped him having slithered his slim body out, and Toothless began firing plasma blasts instead. But the lithe dragon was able to dodge his attacks. Toothless needed a better vantage point; he needed to get up in the air. Her brother tried, but with his tail the way it was, he couldn't.

 **"You can't fly…! This will be too easy"** , the Whispering Death mused mocking Toothless' state. Hiccup needed to help him.

"Toothless can't fly without me! He's a sitting duck!" Hiccup thought out loud once more to Gobber.

"Gobber, man the catapults! And when that thing is clear of Toothless, FIRE!" her dad said after landing.

"Dad, wait!" Hiccup yelled. The last thing she wanted was for the dragon to be killed. If she could get to Toothless everything would be fine; they would be able to chase him off together. She ran to Toothless whose focus was only on the Whispering Death.

"Toothless! Just let me help you, bud!" She tried to get on him, reaching for the saddle, but he wouldn't let her.

 **"No!"** he roared, shoving her away, and incidentally knocking her to the ground **. "You're the last one I want fighting!"**

From where Hiccup sat, she could only look to him perplexed, concerned, and a little hurt. "Wha-? Toothless? Wha-what's wrong?"

Toothless stopped for a brief moment. He looked up at his opponent, and then to her. **"Stay! There!"** he ordered her, and Hiccup didn't know how to respond as her brother took off to pursue the Whispering Death again.

"What was that all about?" Aric asked running up.

"I have no idea."

Toothless tried to get into the air on his own again, but as he did, it left him vulnerable and the Whispering Death fired his spines. Hiccup couldn't tell what happened after that but she knew she heard a pained sound from Toothless. _'Was he hurt?!'_

"Gobber!" her dad commanded, and Gobber fired the catapult hitting the dragon upside the head. It was the only target one could lock on, with his snake like body squirming as it did when he flew. Gobber fired again, hitting his head once more. The dragon must have become annoyed with the interference, because he quickly retreated into the ground after that, sunlight peeking out of the clouds as if a sign of peaceful times returning. The dragon would be back of course, but for now they were safe; Toothless was safe.

Hiccup ran over to Toothless who watched the trail the Whispering Death left as it traveled underground. That's when she spotted one of the Whispering Death's spines embedded into Toothless' leg.

"Oh no. You're hurt", Hiccup worried. She was about to reach for it wanting to help, but he growled, and she took her hand away out of instinctual fear. When Toothless turned his head back around and saw her, he immediately seemed to calm. His eyes dilated, and he stopped growling having a much gentler presence. Taking the spine in her hands she gave a single nod silently asking him if he was ready. He did the same motion back, and Hiccup pulled the spine out with a deep wound left behind. Before Hiccup could help him further, though, Toothless took off to the hills.

"Toothless, wait!"

"Where's he going?" Aric asked.

"Probably running away to go lick his wounds", Snotlout laughed. While what he said was probably true-Night Fury saliva being a great healing agent all-, his tone was completely uncalled for and it angered Hiccup.

"It's not funny", she told him off sharply. "Toothless could've been killed. He can't fly! Remember?"

"And… whose fault is that?"

"Seriously? Did you just go there?" Aric said harshly.

"Hey, I call it like I see it."

"Um, does anyone want to talk about what in the name of Thor just happened?" Fishlegs asked.

"Uh, dragon fight?" Tuffnut said as if obvious. "Just another day on Berk."

"Uh, not really. It seemed there was _way_ more to it than that."

"He's right", Hiccup said. "The Whispering Death _singled_ Toothless out."

"And Toothless wanted that dragon all to himself", Astrid finished.

"Yeah, he certainly did. But why?" Hiccup questioned as she looked out, seeing Toothless on the ledge of a hill looking out like he had when the danger of the mother Typhoomerang had come.

"Uh…are we gonna be tested on this? Cause I'm _completely_ confused", Tuffnut said.

"Well don't look at me", Ruffnut responded.

Hiccup merely ignored them becoming stuck in her own head once again. What just happened wasn't normal. Toothless was acting strange but she couldn't fathom why. What was so different about this dragon that had him acting like this? Did Night Furies and Whispering Deaths carry some sort of instinctual hatred for each other? Were they just natural enemies? But, it seemed as though the Whispering Death had come looking for Toothless. Why? Did Toothless know this dragon? It didn't make any sense.

When Toothless returned home Hiccup kept asking what was going on, but the Night Fury was hesitant to answer, just looking away and either moaning or growling. Whatever was going on Toothless didn't want her to know, and it was eating at him. His face and body language said as much. As much as he tried to hide it, dragons weren't the best at hiding their emotions, instinctual body language being their enemy. Hiccup knew that all too well with how her ears, and sometimes tail, would often betray her. As Hiccup was rubbing on some medicine with his saliva mixed in to quicken the effects, she tried again beginning to get fed up with how he was ignoring her, and how he wouldn't calm down.

"I-I really wish you would just tell me what was going on out there today."

Again, he didn't answer preferring to keep her in the dark. Footsteps were then heard coming up and Toothless looked up on alert as if an Outcast had just come in. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy there, bud. It's just my dad."

Her dad went the rest of the way up the stairs and entered her room, and Toothless calmed a little.

"How's our wounded warrior?" Stoick asked.

"He's…still a little on edge."

"Don't worry, Toothless", her dad said patting the dragon's head. "I think we showed that dragon a thing or two about uninvited guests on Berk. I don't think he'll be coming back anytime soon… At least I hope not."

 **"Goodnight"** , Toothless said to him as her father began to walk out.

"He says goodnight, dad", Hiccup said for him.

"Goodnight to you too, Toothless", he replied in kind, words she never thought she'd hear from her dad to a dragon, and then went downstairs for bed.

Hiccup sighed hoping her dad was right. "Okay, that should do it bud", she then said gently patting his leg a few more times. "You just need to take it easy."

 **"I will. Thank you, Hiccup"** , Toothless told her before heating his bed and laying down.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell me what's wrong?"

 **"Nothing's wrong. Just go to sleep."**

Resigning, Hiccup did as he said and went to bed. Before closing her eyes, though, she took one last worried look at him. _'There's something you're not telling me.'_ She had a gut feeling something was going to happen; that he was keeping something from her, and if she went to sleep she'd regret it. But, looking at his sleeping form, he looked so peaceful; much more peaceful than he had been before. Maybe she was worrying over nothing. Shaking her head, she laid her head on the pillow and closed her eyes.

 **000**

Toothless didn't want to lie to Hiccup, but it was for her own good. If he told her what was going on she would only want to help, and he couldn't let that happen. This _had_ to just be between him and the Whispering Death; his family couldn't get involved. Toothless opened his eyes and looked to Hiccup's sleeping form. He then went to her to make sure she was asleep. Toothless had promised he would keep Hiccup safe. He had to do this; he knew she wouldn't like it, but it was the only option. Looking up at the window, Toothless carefully hopped onto it and out. Only a few steps away, he looked back at the house.

 **"I'm sorry, Hiccup… but I just can't lose you. I promise, he'll never hurt anyone again"** , he softly said before taking off into the woods.

000

Hiccup woke up that morning with a sinking feeling. It was too quiet, and she could see past her eyelids that it was too bright; likely well passed dawn. That never happened. Toothless would always wake her up being an early riser.

"To-Toothless?" she said rubbing the sleep from her eyes before seeing his bed empty. "Toothless?!" she exclaimed already feeling she knew where he'd likely gone to. Hiccup ran outside calling his name, and seeing no Night Fury she realized her gut had been right. "Oh, no. He went after him… Alone."

000

Hiccup had come to their house distressed that morning. Astrid didn't even have to ask what was wrong as Hiccup immediately blurted it out. Apparently Toothless had gone off in the middle of the night to find the Whispering Death; at least that's what Hiccup was convinced of. Astrid, along with Aric, helped Hiccup get the others and they all gathered in the academy so they could all search for the runaway Night Fury.

"Maybe Toothless just went off for a morning flight. Oh that's right. He can't", Snotlout laughed once again making fun of how Hiccup had disabled Toothless. She felt bad enough about it. Did he really need to pour salt on the wound? Evidently Aric didn't find it amusing either.

"Really. You're going there, again? Now." He was about to step up to the Jorgenson, likely to give him a piece of his mind, but Hiccup stopped the boy with an outstretched arm blocking him before he could even take a step. Astrid honestly wouldn't have minded if Hiccup hadn't stopped him.

"Toothless must be looking for the Whispering Death", Hiccup said changing the subject. "We find it, we find Toothless."

"What do we do if we find the Whispering Death first?" Fishlegs asked as he clutched the Book of Dragons.

"Well, we train him."

"You know he's got _death_ in his name, right?" Tuffnut checked.

"Fishlegs, is there anything about the Whispering Death in the Book of Dragons that can help us?"

Fishlegs flipped through the book for a few moments before finding the page he needed. "It can shoot razor sharp spines from any part of its body."

"And how's _that_ gonna help us?" Astrid questioned.

"Well, it would _help_ if we stayed away from those."

"Or…" Tuffnut started. "We could get near them and use Ruffnut as a human shield." As expected, Ruffnut didn't appreciate that option and in retaliation kicked his knee. "Ow! My kneecap. That's new; I like it."

"This dragon _must_ have a weakness", Hiccup stated.

"Actually, no. Yeah, it says right here 'no known weaknesses'.

"Heh, I really love this thing", Tuffnut said.

"Okay, great", Hiccup said rolling her eyes with impatience. "Can we go? Please? We don't know how much time we have."

The riders mounted up, all except Hiccup who would just fly herself, and Astrid looked down at her with sympathy. She was probably the only rider who understood the feeling of waking up to your dragon missing. She knew what it was like to know where they probably were, but know they weren't safe; the feeling was terrible. "Don't worry, Hiccup. We'll find him."

They flew over the island, Hiccup in the lead, searching for some semblance of the Whispering Death.

"There! Down below!" Hiccup called seeing holes similar to the one left in the village. Landing, Hiccup called for Toothless again, but once again, no answer came.

"How do we even know the Whispering Death made these holes?" Snotlout questioned.

"So you think it might be the other 2500 pound rock eating dragon we're following", Astrid replied sarcastically.

"…I know what you're— Don't try to confuse me!"

"Would you look at this", Hiccup said as she picked up a tooth. "He must have lost a tooth."

"Is it sharp?" Tuffnut asked. "If it is, I want it. I like sharp."

"Yeah! Sharp is good!" Ruffnut agreed.

"Think about this", Fishlegs cautioned. "Hundreds of those spinning together, ripping through _dirt_ and tree roots, discarding rock like it's not even there."

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Astrid noticed Hiccup's ear twitch like she'd heard something. At first Astrid thought it was nothing; probably just the sounds you would typically hear in a forest. But then, the dragons became uneasy growling and shrieking.

"Shadowstar? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong with you, dragon?"

"Barf, settle down."

"Hiccup, what's going on?" Astrid asked becoming worried herself.

"Stop!" Hiccup finally intervened getting everyone to be quiet. "Listen…"

"Listen for what?!" Tuffnut shouted, doing the exact opposite of what Hiccup said.

"I don't hear anything. What are we listening for?!" Ruffnut said doing the same.

"Be quiet!" Astrid yelled back at them in a hushed voice.

"How are we supposed to hear anything over her yelling?" Tuffnut yelled hushed to his sister.

"Shhh", Aric shushed them next as the earth began to tremble, a whispering sound emanating from all around them.

"The whisper…" Fishlegs realized.

"Looks like we beat Toothless", Snotlout dreadingly said.

"Yeah. We win", Aric replied.

The Whispering Death emerged from the ground, dirt and rock flying everywhere, and he didn't look happy one bit.

"I'm not feeling like a winner", Fishlegs said.

The dragon quickly drew close to Fishlegs, its circular mouth opened wide with its teeth spinning ever so threateningly. It only approached him for a moment before drawing back. _'That's right!'_ Astrid realized. According to Hiccup and Fishlegs, it was only looking for Toothless. Hopefully, that meant it wouldn't attack. It looked around at all of them, and then with one shrieking roar, dived back down into the earth.

"I hate it when he does that. Can you at least _tell_ me why he does it?" Snotlout stressed out as the ground under their feet continued to tremble. Everyone looked to Fishlegs.

"Maybe to hunt… Maybe because it's cooler… Maybe to look for water… Uhh, maybe because he can't stand the _pressure_ of everyone always expecting him to have the answers!"

"He's losing it", Tuffnut mutteringly sung to his sister.

"I know. It's awesome."

The Whispering Death emerged popped out again and Fishlegs ran screaming in terror from it.

"Somebody hold it still. I want to pet it", Tuffnut said, Ruffnut thankfully grabbing his arm to hold the idiot back.

"Do you actually have a plan? Or are you just trying to get yourself killed?" Aric said as Hiccup began to walk towards the dragon.

"If I can get him to calm down, train him... if I can _talk_ to him, maybe he'll leave Toothless alone", she replied turning back to him.

"Right. So, you are trying to get yourself killed", Snolout confirmed.

Quickly, Hiccup turned back around to find the Whispering Death charging at her. Everyone gasped as she just stood there, dust hiding what was happening from view. When the dust cleared, they saw Hiccup with her head turned and her hand outstretched to the dragon, the dragon stopped in front of it. It stayed there, it's eyes widening for a moment, before it slinked back underground with everyone utterly confused.

"Okay…" Hiccup muttered looking into the hole it retreated into.

"Uh… what just happened?" Aric asked.

"I'm not sure", Hiccup wonderingly said as she looked into the hole.

"Um, I know what you're thinking…" Astrid started. "And the answer's no."

She jumped in anyway.

"Why does she _always_ do that", Aric complained. They walked up to the hole looking down.

"Oh, man. I am so glad I'm not down there with her right now— WAHH!" Fishlegs screamed as Snotlout pushed him in.

"Oops", Snotlout innocently shrugged.

Astrid and Aric both just glared at him.

000

"WAHH! Oof!" Hiccup heard Fishlegs sound as he dropped down behind her.

"Ah, thanks Fishlegs. Kind of figured you'd be the last one to volunteer."

"Yeah. I-I didn't want you to have to face that thing all on your own." Fishlegs quieted down when a roar was heard, although in all honesty it could have echoed from anywhere. There were tunnels everywhere leading to who knows where under the island.

"This thing's been busy", Hiccup commented in response to it all.

"Quick question. Why are we down here again?"

"This is where it spends all it's time. There's gotta be _something_ down here that can help us." The cavern shook and looking through one of the tunnels Hiccup could see the Whispering Death slither on through another tunnel parallel to the one they were standing in. "There it goes. Let's follow it", she whispered. Fishlegs didn't move, or say anything. Hiccup lifted herself from her crouched position and looked to Fishlegs with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh! You were talking to me?" Fishlegs asked as if he hadn't known before.

"Fishlegs, new dragon. You love this stuff."

"Mmmm… I _hate_ that about me."

The two walked along the tunnel looking every which way for where the Whispering Death could have been. It was like a maze; it could have been anywhere down there. Then they spotted eyes in one of the numerous tunnels to their right and Hiccup reared back as Fishlegs cowered. They stayed that way for many seconds until a sheep only popped out, and they calmed finding their reactions silly. The reprieve didn't last long, however, as the dragon they had been on the lookout for decided to show itself, suddenly popping out from one of the tunnels to their left. They jumped and Hiccup pushed Fishlegs into one of the nearby tunnels to hide.

The Whispering Death was passing by seeming to not have noticed them, and Hiccup looked out hoping it would keep going. The dragon kept slithering, only stopping momentarily to go around some sunlight that was peeking through the dirt for some reason.

"Hiccup! Did you see—"

 **"Who's there?!"**

Hiccup placed a hand on Fishlegs' mouth silencing him, and pushed themselves further into their tunnel.

"Can it wait?" she whispered.

He nodded.

"Let's just hope it keeps going", she whispered as the dragon was passing by them.

It didn't, instead stopping with a portion of its spiked tail right in front of them.

"How'd that work out for us?" Fishlegs whispered, to which Hiccup placed a finger to her lips to tell him quiet as she peaked out looking at the dragon. He then shook her for some reason and Hiccup turned looking up to him. He pointed to the dragon's tail, and Hiccup looked to see a large teeth shaped scar on the dragon's scales. It slithered away, and that's when Fishlegs spoke.

"Did you see that?" he said flabbergasted.

"Is that a bite mark?"

"Not just any bite mark. That's a _Night Fury_ bite mark; a smaller one too. I think I know why these two are looking for each other."

Hiccup inwardly gasped. "They have a history." Now it all made sense.

"A grudge."

"If that's so, how long do dragons carry a grudge?"

"…To the death?"

Hiccup's eyes widened and her mind went into a spiral of thoughts hoping Fishleg's theory wasn't true. Toothless had always been vague when talking of his past; in fact he rarely ever spoke of it. The most she knew from his time before the Red Death was that he had no pack and the Red Death was the only one to take him in. At the time he was only a naive youngling and he didn't know of her cruelty—in fact, he technically was still only a youngling, having not gained the want or interest to find a mate yet. After he'd submitted to her, however, and accepted her as his queen it was too late to take it back; he was under her control. That's as far back as he ever went; Hiccup didn't even know if he knew who his mother was. He never spoke of a previous pack or family. He never spoke of any rivalries. He never spoke of anything. There were so many possibilities as to why Toothless and this Whispering Death would be angry at each other, but the only one who could tell her was Toothless. Maybe if he did, if he opened up to her, maybe she could convince him to let whatever this was go. Maybe this feud didn't have to end in death. Who knows? Maybe she could talk the Whispering Death down?

"Let's get out of here before it comes back."

"That is a really good idea", Fishlegs replied more than ready to leave.

000

"They've been down there _forever_ ", Aric said wondering what was going on down there. It seemed to be hours since the two first went in. "Hiccup! Fishlegs!"

"Yup. Right here!" Hiccup called back up appearing in sight once again.

"Did you see the Whispering Death? Was it cool?" Tuffnut asked.

"Did you touch it?" Ruffnut butted in receiving an elbow from Tuffnut.

"I want to touch it!"

"Can we talk about this later? We _really_ need to get out of this hole!" Fishlegs shouted up.

The riders looked up to a trail of up-heaved dirt, a sign of the Whispering Death coming towards them. And fast.

"Yeah, you do!" Astrid confirmed.

"Fishlegs, you go first!" Hiccup said, being that she could fly out while Fishlegs couldn't.

"No argument here", he replied.

Fishlegs placed a foot in Hiccup's hands and with her propping him up to the best of her abilities, Astrid was just able to reach him.

"Grab my hand!" she told him, and when he did, the teens all pulled together to get him out. Now all Hiccup had to do was jump out. "Hiccup hurry!"

"Come on!" Aric yelled as well.

It was too late though. Hiccup turned with eyes wide to the Whispering Death about to crash right into her. "Everyone stand back!"

They all ran out of the way, and in the next second they saw Hiccup being flung out from the hole. "WHOAAAAAAHHHH!"

"Whoa. I bet she can see our house from up there", Tuffnut commented.

The Whispering Death followed, its large mouth following Hiccup. She was falling now and Astrid was about to have Stormfly save her, but just before the dragon could snap it's jaws on her, Hiccup turned on her stomach and extended her wings sweeping right past the Whispering Death's razor teeth and then meeting the riders back on the ground.

000

"Well, that was fun", Hiccup sarcastically commented out of breath. She nearly died. The Whispering Death then pursued her, roaring and shrieking with as much fury as a dragon could show.

 **"INTRUDER! You're with him, aren't you?! He's all over your scent you little runt!** **Tell me WHERE THE NIGHT FURY IS!"**

"I don't think it likes you in its hole", Tuffnut said to her.

"Yeah. I got that", she bluntly replied.

"Can we get out of here?!" Snotlout shouted scared himself. "Please?"

"No", Hiccup replied stubbornly. "I _know_ I can stop this. Anybody got some Dragon Nip?"

In an instant the teens piled Dragon Nip into her hands, the scent making her want to collapse. Her eyes widened and blinked in surprise.

 **"It's all right. We don't have to fight"** , Hiccup crooned soothingly. **"Here, you'll love this. All dragons love this."** The dragon came closer to the Nip in her outstretched hands, and Hiccup thought she'd finally calm the dragon down; they'd be able to talk this out. But things rarely ever go according to plan. The Whispering Death sneezed causing Hiccup to duck away and the Dragon Nip to be flown from her hands and to their own dragons. The dragons felt the effects of the intoxicating aroma immediately and went down in bliss.

"Oh, great, now we're defenseless", Snotlout complained.

 **"Your tricks don't work on me!"** the dragon furiously shrieked, angered with the idea of her trying to trick him.

"Any ideas?" Hiccup asked nervously as she backed away from the now _very_ angry dragon. "I'm throwing it _wide_ open to the group."

"I've got an idea. RUN!" Snotlout screamed.

They ran, the Whispering Death following and setting its sight on Hiccup. As they ran up a hill, Hiccup fell behind and the Whispering Death was right on her tail about to chomp down on her when Toothless came to her rescue. With his piercing roar he tackled the dragon away. They broke apart and the two stared each other down. This time, the other dragons didn't back away from the fight and stood behind Toothless, and the Whispering Death knew when he was outnumbered.

 **"Coward!"** the dragon roared, and then dived back underground.

Hiccup went to Toothless, just barely touching him when her brother snapped at her. **"WHAT DID I TELL YOU!"** he growled furiously.

"I know. And I'm sorry, but… Toothless, you have to tell me what's going on", she said almost desperately.

Toothless only continued to look at her with unmoved anger; his eyes still slited and teeth bared.

 **"I saw the bite mark"** , she then crooned softly, and it seemed to cause a reaction in Toothless. His eyes dilated, and began crooning instead of growling. **"Please, bud. You can tell me anything. I know this is more than just some rivalry. I know you don't like talking about your past, but—"**

 **"You don't understand"** , he said sadly turning his head away from her, no longer looking her in the eye.

 **"Then help me understand."** Hiccup knew that her friends weren't understanding a word, probably standing there awkwardly at hearing the conversation, but she was thankful that they were standing back quietly and being patient. She decided that it would be better if they at least could hear one side of the conversation.

After a few moments, Toothless lifted his head back up at her, and then sat down on his haunches. Hiccup smiled softly and encouragingly.

 **"Alright. But… it's a long story."**

"I've got all day."

Taking a deep breath, Toothless began to tell the tale. **"It started when I was a hatchling going on to be a youngling in just a few months. I was growing fast, and I knew I would hit the stage earlier than most Night Furies. It was just like any other day on our island. I was playing on the shore with some of my pack mates and sisters; all hatchlings like me. It was hitting dawn and my mother called my two sisters, two brothers, and me in to eat, with another successful hunt finished. We went down into the caverns where our nest laid, and gathered around the pile digging in... _That's_ when it happened. The cavern began to shake, and soon a Whispering Death appeared. These dragons… they don't live in packs. They live on their own taking any underground territory they can get their nonexistent claws on. The Alpha told all the hatchlings and younglings to fly, to get above ground until the dispute was settled, and that's what we did. My pack mates, my brothers and sisters, we all flew to above ground. I could hear the shrieks and roars of the grown Night Furies. I could hear my mother and father fighting with all their might. Then I heard a pain filled shriek from mother, and I froze. I don't know why, but I turned and flew back. My brother tried to stop me, but I didn't listen and forged on, telling him I'd catch up. I should have listened… 'Cause what I saw changed _everything_. We were a small pack. Besides for the younglings and hatchlings there were only five Night Furies, the Alpha being quite old, and the younglings still too knew to fighting. They were still only children, just learning…"**

Toothless trailed off, and Hiccup was starting to realize why he might have never mentioned his family before. "Toothless? If you want to stop, you can."

He shook his head. **"No. If anyone should know, it's you."** He took a moment's pause, but then resumed. **"We lost. I saw my mother and father dead… I… saw the Alpha… my pack mate's parents… Everyone. Gone. And the dragon who had done the deed in the middle of it all. My pack's blood all over his teeth. I couldn't handle it. Rage fueled every part of my being, and I blindly attacked."**

"And that's where the bite mark came from."

 **"Yeah. No one won, though. I didn't know what I was doing and our fight had caused a chase off of the island. I was so tired and wounded, my opponent barely receiving a scratch spare the scar I gave him that started the battle, and I retreated and hid on an island until the Whispering Death grew board. I wanted to finish the fight when I was older; stronger. He needed to pay. Too injured to fly back right away, I slept where I was on the foreign island. It was two days before I finally returned home, and I was looking forward to seeing my pack again... But, that didn't happen."**

"What do you mean... that didn't happen?"Hiccup asked almost fearfully, dreading the answer. The further Toothless' story went, the worse it seemed to get.

 **"Everyone was gone. Not one trace left. All I found were a few** **… I don't know what they were… tiny—metal—pointy—things** **, and the Whispering Death's spines."**

"You don't think—?"

 **"I don't know!"** Toothless suddenly growled. **"But I _do_ know it never would have happened had he never showed up! Had he made a home of his own like every other dragon I know! It was _all his_ fault! HE TOOK MY FAMILY AWAY! HE TOOK MY PACK AWAY! NOT AGAIN! NEVER AGAIN!"**

Toothless was roaring by this point, furious and getting lost in his rage. She needed him to calm down. She needed him to see her again. Somehow every time Toothless looked at her, he could calm down. "Toothless, I'm right here. Look at me, bud." His breathing was hard, but he was better than before. "I'm right here. Look, _revenge_ isn't the answer, bud. You have a new pack, a new family… and you have me now. Just... let me help you. You don't have to go through this alone." Hiccup reached out her hand to touch him, but Toothless moved away running off again. "Toothless! Toothless, come back!"

To stop her, he shot a plasma blast to the ground in front of her. It was the first time he'd ever shot at her. She looked to him stunned and hurt.

 **"I'm sorry, Hiccup"** , Toothless crooned. **"You're right. I have a new pack… a new family… I have a new amazing sister… But I _can't_ let him take all that away from me again. The further you are the better. For your own good, stay away. I'm sorry, but you can't help me this time."**

With that he ran off and Hiccup just stared out knowing he was wrong, but not knowing how to prove it.

"…Awkward", Tuffnut suddenly sung and Hiccup turned with a small glare.

000

After Hiccup's talk with Toothless, she was oddly quiet. Aric had asked what it was that the Night Fury told her, as he was talking—well really clicking, crooning, and growling—for a long time, but Hiccup said she couldn't tell him. That it was too personal. Too terrible, and Toothless would have to allow her. As they flew Hiccup sat behind him, not feeling the energy to fly.

"So, Toothless has an arch enemy. Kind of like you and me", Snotlout surmised from what Fishlegs and Hiccup had told them. That really only included the bite mark and the fact that the two were looking for each other wanting to finish a fight they never resolved.

"Snotlout! You're not my arch enemy!" Hiccup replied correcting.

"Well you're mine", he responded giving the motion of 'I've got my eye on you' after.

"He's just trying to protect you", Astrid said.

"That's not what it is! Toothless doesn't want you around because this is between him and the other guy. He's a fighter, like me! Not… whatever you are."

"I'd…never thought I'd say this, but Snotlout, you're absolutely right!" Hiccup said.

"Wait—huh? You guys heard that right?"

That they did, and Aric was surprised as could be. First Astrid, now Hiccup? Who was next? Fishlegs?

"It's not a fair fight", Hiccup continued. "If Toothless is gonna win, he has to fly. And he can't fly without me."

"So, what are you saying?" Aric asked.

"I'm saying we need to find him. And fast."

 **000**

Toothless ran through the woods as fast as possible trying to track the Whispering Death down. He knew Hiccup wouldn't listen to him for long; the girl was stubborn beyond belief. He had to find that Whispering Death quick and end this before she could get herself hurt. Hiccup just didn't understand; she didn't know the pain of seeing your loved ones dead before a monster. She didn't know the pain of losing everything you knew and loved. To only be alive for less than one human year, only for your family to be ripped away. He couldn't just let this go. If he didn't exact his revenge, if he didn't finish this fight to the end, that dragon could do it all over again. He couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let that happen. Berk was his home now, and he wasn't about to let that dragon take it.

He heard the sound of a squeak; it was the same as the little noise Hiccup's metal leg made. He knew it wouldn't be long. Turning to look at her, Toothless couldn't help how his face had softened; his anger for the Whispering Death momentarily forgotten. Neither of them spoke as Hiccup cautiously came closer extending her hand out. After a few more steps, her hand was above his head, and without a second thought Toothless closed the distance placing his head against her palm. He felt Hiccup relax.

"Hey, bud", Hiccup said with a soft smile as she then closed the distance even further hugging him close. "You had me so worried there for a while. You haven't exactly been yourself lately", she finished looking into his now soft eyes.

 **"Stubborn Viking"** , Toothless softly teased.

000

The earth began to tremble, and once again the Whispering Death showed himself ruining the nice moment. Toothless' eyes returned to the harsh slits they had been in before and Hiccup could see his fury returning once again.

"You can just walk away from this, bud!"

He wasn't listening.

 **"Night Fury!"** the Whispering Death roared.

Hiccup, with her hands still on his head, made Toothless look at her. "I'm not asking for you to forget. But please, Toothless, _forgive_. Not for him, but for yourself. You don't have to do this. Let's just go home", Hiccup finished trying to climb onto the saddle, but he pushed her off with a growl and ran to the Whispering Death in attack.

 **"I'm right here! Let's finish this here and now, you monster!"** Toothless roared up at him.

"Ah, you were so close", Fishlegs told her. "I thought you had him."

 **"I couldn't agree more"** , the Whispering Death hissed.

Toothless jumped high into the air firing a plasma blast, but when he began to fall Toothless looked back at his tail with no control of his movement in the air. The Whispering Death used the moment of vulnerability to his advantage and swiped at Toothless with his tail throwing him to the ground. Toothless bounced back up quickly unfazed by the blow and leaped again only to have fire blown at him knocking the Night Fury onto his back, his belly exposed. Toothless struggled to get up for a few moments, but before the Whispering Death could deal the killing blow, Toothless pulled through. So far it seemed the Whispering Death was just toying with her dragon, still mocking him for his unfortunate state. Toothless was still struggling to strike at the Whispering Death, unable to get into the air. He leaped up, only to be put down again and again; all the while, with the Whispering Death laughing at his misfortune.

"He needs our help." Hiccup hopped onto Shadowstar behind Aric and the riders' dragons ran to pursue.

 **"Stay back!"** Toothless ordered, and the dragons listened stopping in their tracks.

"Come on, girl", Aric pressed.

"Hookfang won't budge."

"Neither will Stormfly."

"I think ours is broken."

"They know this isn't their fight, guys", Fishlegs informed them.

Toothless was now pushed back to a ledge; nowhere to run to. Hiccup knew the Whispering Death planned this, for he then dived under the ground separating the portion of rock Toothless was on from the rest of the land. Her brother was completely stuck; a total sitting duck. With Toothless having no way to escape the Whispering Death fired his ring of flames, and Toothless did his best to dodge with the little land he had been given.

 **000**

This was it; it was an unfair fight back then and it was an unfair fight now. Toothless had nowhere to go, and could only dodge the blasts of fire so much. It was only a matter of time till he ran out of room and was knocked into the cannon below.

"Toothless!" he heard Hiccup scream out on the ledge he had once been attached to. A giant canon and Whispering Death had been left between them, and even if Toothless wished for Hiccup's help now he knew she wouldn't be able to. He looked to her with the same fear and dread she did at him. The Whispering Death attacked again, and this time he was almost knocked off the rock, just barely clawing himself back on. He looked to Hiccup again, and what he saw made his heart drop. Hiccup, with her arms spread out took a single step forward, and that single step caused Hiccup to drop off the cliff.

"Hiccup!" Aric exclaimed with shock.

 **"Hiccup!"**

She didn't open her wings, only falling with a blank look on her face as she stared up at the sky. Just as the Whispering Death was about to deal another blow, he didn't even think. Toothless leaped off the rock and dived to save his crazy hybrid.

 **"Hiccup!"**

He was just there, he could just grab her, when Hiccup maneuvered herself in the air and sat in the saddle on his back clicking her foot into the stirrup for his tail. It was close; they were just about to hit the earth below, but Toothless was able to swerve out of the dive just in the nick of time. Hiccup was on his back safe; they were both safe.

"You save me, I save you. That's the way it is, bud."

 **"Stupid youngling!" 'You planned that whole thing.'**

"Now let's go win this thing!"

 **"Couldn't agree more!"**

They raced up gaining speed before diving towards the Whispering Death for attack. The Whispering Death saw the threat now, and shot his spines at them to no avail. The duo dodged every blast, and every spine thrown at them no matter how relentless and desperate the dragon became. Needing to counter attack, Toothless performed his dive bomb again, shooting a plasma blast this time of which the Whispering Death dodged.

 **"You weakling! Needing the help of another! You Night Furies were always so pathetic—EEEKKK!"** the Whispering Death screeched as the sun peaked out from the clouds hitting the dragon.

He retreated to underground, and Hiccup and Toothless took a reprieve themselves joining back with the others.

"The sunlight, Hiccup! That's its weakness!" Fishlegs called, as the duo hovered above.

"Of course!"Hiccup exclaimed.

 **"How didn't we see it?!"** Toothless followed looking up at her.

"Okay, bud, let's keep him above ground."

They flew up and around, diving towards one of the many holes the Whispering Death had left littering the ground, and Toothless shot at it causing an explosion within the Whispering Death's tunnels. The explosion pushed the dragon out in the open and he shrieked up at them with fury. Toothless roared back with the same emotion and tackled the Whispering Death down.

The dragon was now pinned beneath his paws. All Toothless had to do was fire once, and it'd all be over. He would never have to see this monster again, would never have to think of him being out there roaming freely while the murder of Toothless' entire pack was on his nonexistent claws. No one would ever have to endure what he had. All it would take was one shot. He roared, preparing his blast, when Hiccup's voice rang out with urgency.

"Toothless! No!"

He hesitated. Hiccup still wanted him to let go. She wanted him to forgive. But how could he? How could Hiccup be so forgiving? How did Hiccup forgive her village, her father, after what she'd been through? After the constant neglect and abuse both physical and mental? Then Hiccup's words played in his mind. _Not for him, but for yourself._ Toothless' eyes dilated, and his anger began to subside.

 **"Listen, and listen well. Leave this place and never return. If you _ever_ come back, or you threaten my pack, next time I _will not_ hesitate to shoot"**, Toothless finally said to the Whispering Death. The dragon's eyes widened with surprise, at the show of mercy but didn't hesitate to flee when Toothless got off of him letting him go.

"Aw, man! Toothless could've finished him off!" Snotlout complained.

"Well, I guess all dragon grudges aren't to the death", Hiccup said knowingly.

"I guess I'll have to change that in the book", Fishlegs said before him and the other riders took off heading home.

 **"I'm proud of you, bud"** , Hiccup said proudly at Toothless.

 **"I just remembered what you said, and I let my anger go. I don't think I'll ever really forgive him, but he wasn't worth it. Besides, if I was never orphaned and I never wandered to the Red Death, then I never would have met you."**

Hiccup just smiled down at him. **"So…do you feel better?"**

Toothless thought for a moment. **"I…do. I really do. Thank you, Hiccup… How did you forgive your village?"**

 **"Simple. I wanted to give them a second chance. And look at how that payed off. Now, what do you say we go home?"**

 **"That's the best idea I've heard all day."**

000

 _...When our past rears its ugly head, it usually doesn't have six rows of razor sharp teeth and a bad attitude. If it does, you're gonna need a great friend who has your back. I will always have Toothless' back, and he will always have mine._

000

Toothless leaped into the air and they headed home, all the while the two bantering like usual.

"That's the only idea you've heard all day."

 **"No. It was your idea to let him go."**

"So wouldn't _that_ be the best idea you've heard all day?"

 **"I was just repeating a saying you humans came up with. Can't you leave me peace?"**

"Can you?"


	14. Twinsanity

**Ahh, Dagur, how long I have waited for this...**

 **Before we start however, I need to get a few things out of the way.**

 **Anonymous Guest (ya'll know who it is. It's the review with the only curse word you'll find around here): I know you will likely not see this, but I need to get this off my chest anyway. I appreciate you took the time to critique; however, I don't believe I'm going to stop writing what I want to write. There were labels, a.k.a. warnings. If you prefer stories where Hiccup isn't gender bent I completely understand and don't expect you to read or like this content (I didn't like gender bending characters myself at one point finding it very strange and odd). But, I will not change just to accommodate your preferences that you knew fully well you would not receive. Every idea/story/chapter I have written within this series have all been building for so long and I'm finally bringing them all out. I'm not gonna change that no matter how much you curse at me or how profane your language. I am open to criticisms and do take what people say into consideration (I try my best at least). But there is a difference between just commenting to be blatantly rude, and actually commenting to help better the writer. I'm open to change, but not to insults.**

 **Natalie: Thank you for the support. After getting that rude comment it was nice to hear such kind words.**

 **Alright, now with all that said, let's move on to something happier. In other words, let's get on with introducing one of my absolute favorite characters in not just the httyd universe but in general. YAY! :)**

* * *

 _ **Twinsanity:**_

 _They say two heads are better than one, which is often true, but four heads? That's a few heads too many…_

000

Up in the thick dark clouds the dragon riders were flying through as part of training. They had only just begun and already Hiccup was receiving complaints.

"How are we supposed to see up here?!" Ruffnut asked.

Hiccup had Toothless glide closer towards the two on the Zippleback. "You're not! That's the whole point!" she answered over the wind.

"Oh! Nah, I still don't get it!" Tuffnut said still confused.

"When you two can't see, you have to trust Barf and Belch to see for you! Like this!" With a movement she signaled for Toothless to move further into the clouds and allowed Toothless to guide them through the misty air.

"Why must she always speak in riddles?" Tuffnut asked rather dramatically.

Hiccup, unfortunately, didn't count on the fact that the twins wouldn't be able to see her and that their heads were thicker than the fog.

"I say we trust us", Ruffnut decided.

"Yeah, I'm with you sister."

"Barf, up!" "Belch, down!"

Each head did as their rider said and it caused the dragon to spiral out of control smashing into Fishlegs and Meatlug sending the three riders down to the earth. They landed in a rather dead and brittle tree. The branches wouldn't be able to hold them for long; they were already cracking.

"Belch, get me down!" "Barf, go for help!"

Once again the dragon was pulled into two different directions causing the dragon nothing but grief trying to do what both riders told them.

 **"Tuff said to get him down! We're going this way!"**

 **"But Ruff said to get help! The others are this way!"**

The dragon pulled against each other causing them to spiral out of control once again. Once steady, the angry dragon now busied himself with fighting his other head reaching over to bite him.

Fishlegs, staying completely calm, whistled for his dragon and Meatlug turned to him diligently. Looking down, Hiccup could see Fishlegs doing some type of hand motions to Meatlug and she responded going down to the tree and taking the twins in her claws. It amazed Hiccup in so many ways.

"It worked! I can't believe it actually worked!" Fishlegs yelled excitedly before the branch he was lying on started to break.

"Come on, Toothless!" With a roar, Toothless dived down to where Fishlegs was, catching him as the branch gave way and he fell. With him sitting behind her, Hiccup had to ask, "What was that hand thing you were doing?"

"If you _must_ know, I have been crafting some rudimentary hand signals for Meatlug just in case we get separated, and they seem to have been well received", Fishlegs answered.

Hiccup nodded. "Hand signals; that's incredible, Fishlegs."

"Yeah! I know!"

"We need to start working on those right away."

Gathering the others, the teens went back to the academy to start working on making hand signals. The first step: distinguish each hand signal.

"Toothless, battle ready!" Hiccup said making a fist and bringing it in as she crouched as if about to lunge.

Toothless crouched in a battle stance with a growl, his wings opened and teeth bared threateningly, as if ready to attack.

"Toothless, plasma blast!" Hiccup then told him as she pointed one finger to the ground at a ninety degree angle. She threw the shield in her hand and Toothless blasted it. "Nice job, bud. Smile", she then said tracing her finger over her lips in an arch simulating a smile. Confused as to why, the dragon lifted his lips into a somewhat awkward smile.

"Not bad…" Aric complimented. "Spines, Shadowstar!" he yelled out putting his hands out in what normally would be the signal to stop. As told, the hybrid shot her spines, one hitting the edge of Aric's boot.

"Well, that was better than last time", Astrid commented as Aric lifted the spine attaching his boot to the ground out. "Stormfly, Magnesium blast!" she then yelled stretching out one hand, palm open, towards the direction she wanted her to fire. The dragon fired where she directed. Unfortunately, where Astrid was, was also in the way of where she directed, and she had to duck from the blast with a shout of surprise.

Snotlout just burst out laughing. "Hookfang! Annihilate!" he then ordered directing to the wooden barrier beside him with his hands in fists directing to it sideways.

 **"Laugh at this"** , Hookfang muttered before firing directly at Snotlout's feet propelling him into the wooden barrier.

"Bullseye", Tuffnut commented.

Hookfang merely chuckled as Snotlout tried to get up, moaning and groaning in pain.

"Meatlug, hug!" Fishlegs said hugging himself. Immediately, Meatlug barreled into him knocking the boy to the ground before licking his face.

"Hmm… that could actually be useful", Hiccup stated in response. "Ruff, Tuff, your turn."

"Belch, come", Tuffnut said motioning the dragon forward towards him. "Barf, go", Ruffnut said as well pointing out.

Once again the dragon was pulled in two different directions and ended up clashing their heads together before collapsing on the ground. The twins growled at one another glaring.

"Barf, sky!" Ruffunt said pointing to the air with her other hand. "Belch, ground!" Tuffnut said pointing to the ground.

The commands caused the dragon to leap into the air, flip, and crash down.

"Ha-ha! I win!" Tuffnut said victoriously.

"What do you think you're doing to my dragon?!" Ruffnut demanded.

"Your dragon? Pla-ease. You've been breathing in Barf's gas again."

"Yeah! So?!"

"Guys! Guys!" Hiccup said trying to break the fight about to ensue up. "Barf and Belch is one dragon. You have to use on signal at a time."

"Good idea", Ruffnut said with a smirk. "Barf, attack Tuffnut!" she said pointing her entire body towards her brother. In response, Barf used his head to hit Tuffnut and knock him into Snotlout who just got up from the wooden barrier only to be knocked onto it again. "Heh, how was that?"

"I don't think it's what Hiccup—" Fishlegs started only to be interrupted by Tuffnut.

"Belch, eat Ruffnut", he said closing his hand up like a clam. Belch responded by grabbing Ruffnut into his mouth, only half her body sticking out.

"Uh, ow", Ruffnut complained.

Hiccup sighed. "Tuff, come on."

"Whatever. Belch, drop Ruffnut", Tuffnut then said opening his hand. Belch let her go and the twin shuddered.

"I can't work like this", she muttered.

"Ugh, it's completely unprofessional", Tuff said now strolling up.

"I'm taking _my_ dragon and going home."

"You touch that dragon and I'll…"

" _You'll what_?" Ruffnut challenged the two in each other's faces.

"I… I don't know. Don't rush me. Just… eh… uh… I'll tell you tomorrow."

The two then began to pull their dragon apart trying to go in two different directions only resulting in no one going anywhere. Again. Hiccup decided to intervene before they hurt the poor dragon.

"Guys come on, please? Leave the dragon out of it. It's over."

"Oh, it's over", Ruffnut said still trying to drag Barf with her.

"Yeah, it's so over, it's under", Tuffnut agreed, before letting go of Belch and just storming off; his sister doing the same.

"What was that about?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup sighed and groaned at the same time. "They'll be back."

"Yeah, no doubt they'll forget the whole thing by tomorrow", Aric agreed.

 **"This is your fault!"**

 **"No it's yours!"**

 **"No it's not!"**

 **"Yes it is!"**

The Zippleback heads just kept fighting back and forth trying to bite the other, just as at war with each other as their riders.

000

A day filled with training done, Hiccup and Toothless went home to hear her dad and Gobber struggling with something inside the house.

"Ugh! Suck in your gut, Stoick!"

"Nugh! It's sucked, Gobber! It doesn't suck any more than this!"

Hiccup opened the door to find what the two were talking about. "Ah, the ceremonial belt", she said seeing Gobber practically squeezing her dad to death trying to put the darn thing on. "It's that time again?"

"Yep. Tomorrow's the annual _sign-ning_ with the Berserker tribe", her father answered straining.

"They gotta change that name. When your chief's Oswald the _Agreeable_ and you haven't been to war in fifty years…?" Gobber said.

"Oh, please don't tell me he's bringing that lunatic kid of his?" Hiccup asked almost desperately.

"Dagur? He'll be here", Gobber confirmed.

"Oh, _great_. And let me guess, I get to keep him from breaking things again", Hiccup said with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed rather angrily and with an almost bitter tone.

"Just be glad you don't have to marry him", Gobber joked, of which Hiccup didn't appreciate half glaring, half shuddering with disgust at the mere thought. To be tied to that insane monster? What a nightmare.

"Actually, I have a more important job for you", her father said, thankfully interrupting her thoughts of Dagur. "You get to hide _all_ the dragons."

"From Oswald the Agreeable?" Hiccup questioned. "Why?"

"Hiccup, just because we've had peace for fifty years doesn't mean they still can't go…well…"

"Berserk?" Gobber finished.

"Exactly. The dragons could be seen as a sign of aggression. Better blissful than bloody I always say."

"And the last thing we want is another Berserker skirmish. They tend to play for keeps."

"Just hide the dragons, dear—Oh!" he exclaimed as Gobber pulled on the belt again causing Hiccup to slightly cringe.

The following day, Hiccup and the riders worked to get all the dragons into a network of caves she and Toothless found deep in the forest; it was absolutely perfect to keep the dragons in for however long the Berserkers would be on the island. Hopefully not too long; the less time she had to spend with Dagur the better.

Hiccup looked down and spotted some more Terrors in the forest. "Toothless", she said pointing towards them. He fired accordingly spooking them to take air.

 **"Come on fellas! Follow the flock!"** she said behind the dragons getting them in the herd they were leading to the caves.

Meanwhile, Snotlout was playing dragon warden. "Back in line! Back in line! Everybody in line, in line. Is Dagur coming?!" he suddenly asked as Hiccup and Toothless came up beside him. "He's so cool!"

"Cool?! _Last_ time he was here, he used me as a knife throwing target!" Hiccup said as if the notion that Dagur was cool was insulting.

"That guy should be locked up in a cage", Aric stated.

"That's what he did to me!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "He wouldn't let me eat for _three_ days!"

"Then he force fed you rotten cod heads!" Snotlout laughed.

"Thanks. _I_ almost erased that from my memory."

"Look out!" Astrid called. "Incoming Zippleback!"

A Zippleback came barreling through the flock towards them completely out of control, and squinting Hiccup could see something familiar about him. _'Wait a minute… That's Barf and Belch!'_

"Where's Ruffnut and Tuffnut?!" she asked, but no one got the chance to answer as the dragon passed them almost hitting their dragons' wings. "Someone get that dragon!"

"I'm on it!" Snotlout said steering Hookfang to the Zippleback. Flying over the dragon, Snotlout then dropped off of Hookfang and onto Belch, but he couldn't control the dragon.

"Snotlout, you need two riders!" Hiccup informed. "Fishlegs, get in there!"

"Heh-heh, I'm not really sure this is the best idea—OH WHOA-OH-OH!" Fishlegs screamed as he had now inched his way closer to Barf and the dragon hit Meatlug in the gut causing Fishlegs to be bounced onto him. Barf's mouth then opened spewing out his gas into the air. "I don't feel so good!"

"It's the gas! Just, try not to breathe any in!"

"Yeah? That ship has sailed", he said lurching forward looking like he was about to puke while hanging on to the dragon's neck.

Snotlout was having no better luck at trying to ride the dragon, too wrapping his arms around the dragon's neck for dear life. "Hey! Somebody tell me how to work this thing!"

"Whatever you do, Snotlout, don't spark—"

At that moment Snotlout accidentally pulled on Belch's head sparking the gas Barf was letting loose. The explosion propelled them both back onto Hookfang, Fishlegs looking as sick as ever. "Okay, now I feel worse", he said.

"Then if I were you, I would _not_ think about that rotten cod head _sliding_ down your throat", Snotlout said. It resulted in the poor boy behind him puking over to the side. "Oh! _That_ is disgusting!"

The Zippleback was getting away, but without the twins there wasn't much they could do. "Wait here", she said to Aric. "I need to find the twins and get that Zippleback under control. Before the Berserkers—" A horn was heard.

"Are here", Aric said slowly.

"Great. Just perfect." She sighed. "Alright. Guys, get these dragons to the caves! I have to be at the docks with my dad!"

Toothless flew off landing near the docks, and quickly Hiccup hopped off. Before she ran over to meet her father to tell him the bad news, however, she turned to Toothless first.

 **"Bud, I need you to find that Zippleback. But,** _ **stay**_ **out of sight. If those Berserkers see you it won't be any good, trust me."**

 **"Got it, you can count on me. And don't worry about that boy. You could always come by the cave whenever you like."**

 **"I know. Thanks, Toothless."**

They parted ways, each running in separate directions, and Hiccup made it down to the docks where her dad was standing with Gobber and a few other Vikings in greeting.

"Uh, hey, dad… There's som—"

"Not now, dear. Oswald's here", he said interrupting her. "Here, put this on", he then said tossing Hiccup her old black cloak.

"Uh, yeah. But, dad—" She glanced over and saw the lead ship about to dock. "Too late", she muttered. Quickly, she put the cloak on, the fabric feeling strange on her scales after nearly a year without it. The boat was now docking and a gang plank had been brought out, but no one got off yet.

"Presenting", a Berserker Viking, who appeared to be a solider, began announcing. "The High Chief of the Berserker tribe! Cracker of skulls, slayer of beasts, the _great_ and _fearsome_ …"

"Oswald the Agreeable?" Gobber questioned.

"Dagur the Deranged!" Moving aside the man presented Dagur looking just as menacing and crazy as ever, a twisted long horned helmet astride his head to match the twisted smile spread across his face.

"Dagur?" her dad said shocked.

"Deranged?" Gobber wondered.

"Oh, no", Hiccup dreaded. Dagur threw a dagger—how fitting—at Hiccup, and she ducked just in time, the weapon hitting the post behind her rather than her head. "Oh, perfect", she muttered.

000

Confidently, Dagur strolled up off his ship, that mad glint still in his eyes as he walked up to Stoick.

"Dagur, where's your father?" Stoick asked wondering why this mad eighteen year old kid was being presented as Chief of the Berserkers. What could have happened?

"My father…" he started looking down as if saddened. "…has been…retired", he then stated that smile of his returning. "He lost his taste for blood. _I_ , on the other hand, am starving", he said saying 'starving' in a sing song kind of way before chuckling as if there was something funny about that and then suddenly stopping as if board with the joke he had made. "So. Where are you hiding them, _Stoick_?" he asked slowly.

"Hiding what, Dagur?"

"Do I look stupid to you?"

"Trick question. Don't answer it", Gobber whispered over.

"We both know what's going on here", Dagur began again. "I have it on _excellent_ authority that you're amassing an army of dragons."

"Excellent authority? And who would that be, Dagur?" Stoick asked almost in a demanding tone.

"Never mind", he answered rolling his eyes. "Just know, that if I find it to be true, then my _armada_ will attack with the force of fifty thousand brave Berserker soldiers!"

"Stand down, Dagur. There won't be any need for the armada. Now, let's get to the treaty."

"Yes. Let's. According to the treaty, my visit starts with a tour of Berk, the armory, the feast in the Great Hall, the _killing arena_ … You _do_ still kill dragons here, hmm?"

"Your _father_ never found the tour necessary."

"As you can see, I'm not my father. _Am I_?"

Stoick was quickly losing his patience with this boy as he stared up at him with this crazed look. Dagur had never truly been sane, but to think Oswald would give Dagur the position of Chief at this time when the boy was still clearly unstable didn't seem right at all. The boy was insane; not fit to be Chief what's so ever. Stoick reached for his sword, but Gobber stopped him before he could make any hostile move.

" _Not_ in front of the armada", he whispered to him, and Stoick complied. Gobber was right. Even if Dagur was to be an unstable and terrible chief for his people and those around him, he was a chief nonetheless, and to kill him, or harm him, would be seen as an act of war. That was something they didn't need with the Berserkers at the moment; especially not with the constant looming threat of the Outcasts.

000

Having seen enough and no longer needing to be present, Hiccup suck off to go find and warn Toothless of the change in threat. She couldn't believe Oswald would actually retire and give Dagur the role of Chieftain. It didn't make sense; not one bit. And Dagur… did he get crazier since the last time she saw him? With the tail of her cloak trailing behind in the wind, she ran through the village needing to find her Night Fury. There was no telling what Dagur would do if he found her brother.

"Oh, this is bad. This is bad. This is really bad", Hiccup chanted as she ran seeing no trace of her dragon. She was then suddenly pulled to the side by Aric.

"Hiccup, we have a problem", he said as they stood between two houses.

"Oh, yeah, you're telling me! Dagur's the new Berserker Chief!"

"What?!"

"Yeah! His father… _retired_? And he thinks we're hiding dragons."

"Well we kind of are. Which brings us to our next problem", Aric told her pointing down to the ground. In the soil beneath their feet laid Zippleback tracks.

' _Oh this can't be good…'_

"Barf? Belch? Here?!"

 **"Someone say my name?"**

 **"You mean my name."**

 **"Our names."**

 **"Hey, if we're one dragon shouldn't we have one name?"**

 **"Of course not, stupid. We got two brains."**

Hearing the two bickering, Hiccup turned to see Barch standing in the open by the store house eating a basket filled with fish. And looking over to the left, she could see her father, Gobber, Dagur, and his ante rouge of Berserkers coming right this way. Quickly, she and Aric went over to the basket and carried it away leading the dragon out of view.

000

"And we're walking, walking… Here, we have our food storage. It's where we—"

"Oh, oh, oh, let me guess… store your food", Dagur interrupted Gobber with a roll of his eyes board.

"No wonder they made him chief", Gobber whispered sarcastically to Stoick as the lad walked on.

000

So far things were calm. Barf and Belch were eating their fish as Hiccup and Aric lead them to the forest, until the riders ran out of the food.

 **"No more?"**

 **"Looks not."**

They ran off.

"No! Barf! Belch! Come back here!" Hiccup yelled hushed as the dragon ran back through the village and passed the store house where Dagur was just coming out from.

000

"Booooring", Dagur said with his head turned as he began to walk out not seeing the Zippleback running by; the dragon was gone before his head looked to where he was going. "I want to see the dragon killing things!" the boy then said like a child who didn't get what they wanted.

"Follow me", Stoick said wanting this visit to end. He wasn't sure how much more of this brat he could take. Even Hiccup as a seven year old didn't whine this much.

He took the lad to the armory and there it was like watching a ten year old playing pretend; it seemed the boy never really grew up swinging a sword around like no one was there watching the rather insane display.

"You want some of this, Gronckle? How 'bout you, _Nadder_? Yuah! That's right! Plead! Plead for your pathetic dragony life." Dagur then threw the sword stabbing a shield that sat between Stoick and Gobber.

"He's really got a handle on that whole deranged thing", Gobber commented to Stoick.

Dagur began cackling again, taking another sword and swinging it around all over again.

"I'm about to make him eat this sword!" Stoick said furiously, his patience going fast. He took the sword from the shield, but Gobber stopped him again.

"Why don't we see to signing that treaty now?" he then said, an arm outstretched stopping his chief.

"Sounds like my _father_ ", Dagur said stopping his playing. "Sign the treaty, Dagur. Leave that chicken alone, Dagur! Uh-uh, put down that ax, Dagur!"

"Your father is a great man, and I'll not have you disrespect him", Stoick said sternly.

"My father _was_ a _coward_ ", Dagur replied harshly. " _I_ intend to return the Berserkers to their former glory. Something he was… _incapable_ of doing."

He knew it. Oswald would have never put Dagur in power. Dagur had _killed_ his own father. The boy had no family left now, and that meant there was no one to rein him in. Dagur could do whatever he wanted, and whenever he wanted. He then was surprised to see a Zippleback running by, and he didn't hold his tongue.

"Zippleback", he accidentally slipped out.

"I knew it!" Dagur exclaimed like a kid on Snoggletog morning. "Where is it? Ooh! Ooh! Let me kill it! Let me kill it!" he yelled excitedly unsheathing his sword.

"Heheheh", Gobber laughed unsuspiciously closing the doors of the armory. "He's joking Dagur." Dagur stopped with a frown on his face disappointed. "That Stoick, always the prankster. Tell me, Dagur, what are some of your deranged plans for the Berserker tribe", Gobber than asked leading the boy away from the doors.

000

"Where did he go?" Aric asked having lost the dragon.

"I-have no idea. Uh, you keep looking, and I'll go warn my dad", Hiccup said before running off. She made it to the armory, and quietly knowing who was inside called needing to make sure the dragon wasn't near. "Barf! Belch!" she called hushed.

Barf and Belch appeared right behind her on top of the armory building.

"Guys you can't be here!" Hiccup told them.

 **"Why not?"** Barf asked.

 **"Yeah. Oh! Is there a secret present inside?"**

"Oh, come on. Now, what did they do…? Okay Hiccup, think like Ruffnut and Tuffnut. I can't believe I just said that. Barf, Belch, sky!" she said waving both hands up in the air trying to tell them to go up, but it only confused them.

 **"What is she doing?"** Belch wondered.

 **"I don't know?**

 **"You want to go?**

 **"Maybe we could stay and watch a little more. Besides I want to see that secret present."**

 **"Bet it's from Tuffnut."**

Hiccup just kept her arms up waving her hands in the motion of up slowly getting stiffer as she heard Dagur coming.

"Nice weapons, very clean…" The door opened with Dagur right in front of her. "…no blood stains…pity…"

She froze, her eyes closed, as if he wouldn't see her if she was like a statue. It of course didn't work.

"Ah, Hiccup. There you are", he said.

She opened her eyes slowly.

"Dagur! I-I was just looking for ya! Heh, that's why I'm here… in front of the armory… _arms_ wide open—fo-for a hug…" She hoped he didn't see her try not to cringe at the last part.

"Nah. Don't feel like it", he said rather board.

' _Oh, thank the gods.'_ No doubt he would just crush her wings.

"You still wearing that old thing?" Dagur then said picking at her cloak. "Would have figured by _now_ you would have told everyone", he said rather suspiciously.

' _The dragons! Think, Hiccup, think.'_

"Uh, hey! You remember that time when we went swimming, and… you tried to drown me", she said smiling and laughing trying to make it sound like good times. It worked.

"Hohohohohohoheheheheha", he laughed strangely. "Oh, the laughs we had… Board again!"

He shoved her aside, and Hiccup shuffled trying to get around the armory to get Barf and Belch out of sight, but then Dagur suddenly stopped.

"Just a moment. _Something_ is going on here…"

' _Too late.'_

"I can explain", she told him.

"Where is it?"

"Look, it's only one dra—"

"Your leg?"

Discreetly moving her eyes upwards she found the Zippleback to be gone from the roof. She instantly calmed—well, as much as she could around Dagur.

"Never mind; I heard _all_ about it", Dagur then said.

"You heard all about what?"

"You…? The Red Death…? Defeated it all on your own?"

"Wha?! Me?! Lo-look at me. How is that even possible?"

"I know right?! That's what I thought too!"

Hiccup let out the breath she'd been holding.

"But then, I heard about the _trained dragons_. And it got me, well uh, kind of tingly."

" _Trained_ dragons? I do—I don't even—How-how would our train a dragon?"

"I don't know, little dragon", he said getting closer menacingly. "How would you?"

Hiccup just stood there unable to respond, her mind unable to come up with a way out, until her father and Gobber walked up.

"Alright then, who's hungry?" she suddenly asked breaking the silence and changing the subject.

"It's this way, Dagur", her father said leading him away. They began to walk on to the Great Hall when everyone stopped at the sound of Barch and Toothless.

 **"Don't even think about it"** , Toothless said sounding muffled. No doubt he was holding the dragon back.

 **"But she's leaving."** **"Yeah, we want to follow. She's funny."**

 **"You also want to be killed?"**

Her dad and Dagur both turned to her at the sounds of the dragons, and Hiccup just stood there with eyes wide unsure of how to cover this one up. Then she thought of something; it was stupid, and a long shot, but worth a try. She began growling trying to simulate her stomach. "Oh boy, am I hungry", she then said rather awkwardly. Dagur didn't seem completely convinced looking confused, but her dad saved her.

"I said _this way_ , Dagur", he told him, and Dagur went on with the others while she and her father stood behind. "Get that dragon out of here", he whispered to her, and Hiccup nodded. She ran around to the back of the building and found Toothless watching as Barf and Belch fought each other again over whatever.

"We need the twins."

 **"You think?"** Toothless responded.

000

As the sun began to set, Aric and Hiccup entered the twins' home seeing no one inside. That is until Tuffnut scared the two out of their boots by popping out of nowhere hanging upside down behind them.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked suddenly.

"Hey, Tuffnut, feel like talking?" Hiccup asked.

"Um, could you come down?" Aric requested.

"Whatever", Tuffnut said. He flipped off landing next to them swaying as if light headed. "Whoa. Yeah, I love that part."

"Look", Hiccup started. "About Barf and Belch… We _need_ you and Ruffnut to help us get your dragon under control."

"Uh-uh-uh. No. No thank you. I am officially out of the dragon business. A-and the sister business. And the dragon _and_ sister business. The dristisderness…"

"What's going on with you two?" Aric asked.

"Simple. You know what this is?" He asked grabbing a spoon.

"A-a spoon?" Hiccup asked confused.

"No. It's _our_ spoon. Just like this is _our_ dish, and _our_ ax, and our well-groomed stuffed yak. Everything is ours! I'm sick of ours. Just once I want something to be just mine. _Now_ , if you excuse me, I have to go pack up _my_ half of the yak."

"Go? Where?"

"I don't know. To my dark soggy alone place? _Not_ to cry."

 **"Are you gonna stop him?"** Toothless softly asked Hiccup.

"This house…" Tuffnut continued. "It has too many memories."

"Tuff!" Hiccup called as he left the house, but the boy didn't listen.

"Dark soggy alone place?" Aric questioned.

"Yeah, I—really don't wanna know."

000

Hiccup and Aric spent the next few hours tracking down Barf and Belch with the moon and some torches as their only source of light. *Hiccup's vision was better than Aric's in the dark, and they had Toothless as well who had 10x the better vision, but still it was getting harder to find them, and every time they did get close, they couldn't get the dragon under control and he'd run off again starting the chase all over. Eventually, Hiccup had to go to the feast at the Great Hall, so Aric said he'd go grab Astrid and they'd continue the search together while she did what she needed to.

Hiccup arrived at the Hall just in time as everyone was sitting down, and quickly, she took her seat beside her father.

"Did you get that Zippleback under control", her dad whispered to her.

"We're working on it", she whispered back, before their attention went to Dagur.

"A toast! To death in battle", Dagur said standing, raising his cup.

"To your father!" Gobber added in.

"To Oswald!" her father also jumped in as everyone stood as well in toast.

"Fine, whatever", Dagur responded to the change of events at first sounding like he just didn't care, but then he became what Hiccup could only assume to be spiteful. "To Oswald! To Oswald! To Oswald! Bladady, Bladady, Blah!" he mocked. "Ugh!" he finished stabbing his plate with a dagger.

"Well… On that cheery note, shall we sign the treaty and send you on your way?" Gobber offered.

"Great idea!" he exclaimed standing. "Let's sign that treaty. Bring us the dragon's blood!"

"Uh, did you just say _dragon's blood_?" Hiccup asked, her eyes sliting with the words 'dragon's blood.'

"Heh, heh", her dad laughed as if it were some bad joke he was nervously laughing at. "Don't be ridiculous, Dagur. Your father and I haven't signed the treaty in dragon's blood for years."

"Why would that be a problem, _Stoick_? Unless, of course, you _don't kill_ dragons anymore", Dagur suspected.

"We still kill dragons", Stoick lied trying to sound as if the boy was being ridiculous.

"The problem is", Gobber intervened. "We've killed so many, there isn't a dragon within… two-hundred miles of here." That's when Barch burst through the doors running around in an almost rampage-like way. "Except that one."

"The Zippleback! It's a sign! A _head_ for each chief! OH-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO! It's gonna be _amazing_!" Dagur exclaimed shaking Stoick. He then hopped onto the table. "TONIGHT! We hunt dragon!" He declared throwing his dagger into the table directly where Hiccup sat.

Dagur's Berserkers cheered chanting 'kill' over and over, as Hiccup could only think _'how can this get any worse?'_

"You need to find that Zippleback before he does", her father then told her, and that was going to be a lot easier said than done without the twins.

000

Both parties searched all night for the dragon, but no one came up with any results. The hunting party called it a night, but the teens kept at it. Eventually the riders decided they would just need to find the twins, but that was proving to be just as difficult. The following day, they were still searching.

"Come on guys, we have to keep searching!" Hiccup encouraged as some of the riders were lagging behind.

"Hiccup, you heard Tuffnut. He went to his dark soggy alone place, that could be anywhere", Aric pointed out to her.

"Not really", Snotlout then said. "That could only be _one_ place."

Hiccup and Aric both looked at him unable to believe what he just said.

"What?"he asked clueless.

"Why didn't you say something?!" Hiccup yelled over.

"Why didn't you ask?"

" _Snotlout_ , we've been looking for them _all day_!" Aric said.

"And?"

"And if you don't tell us right now, I'm gonna throw you off that dragon!" Aric then yelled fed up.

"No need to get violent. He's probably at the lost cavern. They used to play hide and go kill there when they were kids", Snotlout finally told them.

"Astrid, you and Snotlout take the south entrance of the cavern. Fishlegs and Aric, we'll take the north", Hiccup directed, and then the three flew off.

"Let's go!" Astrid called, to be met with a smiling stare from Snotlout. "Ugh!" she groaned, and they flew off.

000

Astrid and Snotlout landed at the southern entrance to the lost cavern quickly. After lighting a torch, they went into the dark caves.

"Pretty dark in here", Snotlout said. "If you need to hold my hand, Astrid, it's okay."

Astrid stopped for a moment before turning around to him with a smile. "Sure, Snotlout", she said sweetly and she placed Stormfly's tail into his hand, the boy not paying attention.

"Ooh, soft as I thought it'd be", he commented to Hookfang, only to turn his head back around and see what he was holding, Stormfly looking back at him as he held her tail. "EWW!" Snotlout screamed letting the tail go.

Astrid merely chuckled evilly at him and then turned to continue walking down the cavern, Hookfang pushing the disappointed boy along as well.

000

Hiccup, Aric, and Fishlegs all made it to the northern entrance to the cavern, and after dismounting and lighting a torch, Hiccup turned to Toothless.

"Alright, bud. Do your thing. Search", she said extending one hand, palm open, to the direction of the cave. At first Toothless warbled with confusion, and Hiccup wondered what was so confusing about what she just said. That is until he spoke.

 **"Oh. We're doing the hand signal thing"** , he said, and then moved forward into the cave searching as she said.

They walked through the lost cavern for a little while, Toothless doing his thing in navigating through the dark place, when they came across…

"Tuffnut?"Hiccup said.

"Oh, you guys again", Tuffnut commented shielding his eyes from the light of the torch. "Would you quit following me?!"

"Ruffnut!" they heard Astrid yell.

"Would you quit following me?!" she responded.

"Did you guys hear that?" Hiccup asked wondering how far away the voices were.

"Duh", Snotlout said walking from behind the rock formation Tuffnut was sitting against. "It's called an echo."

Ruffnut poked her head around and the twins saw each other realizing they were in the same place.

"Toothless, Plasma Blast!" Hiccup commanded doing the hand signal with it. He shot his plasma up onto the ceiling illuminating the room some.

"What are _you_ doing in _my_ soggy place?!" Tuffnut demanded.

"This is _my_ soggy place. And I'm not sharing it with _you_!" Ruffnut shot back.

"Alright, listen, please!" Hiccup intervened, time running out. "We _need_ to get you guys to your dragon. It's important."

"Barf and Belch are in real trouble", Astrid elaborated.

"I'll go! But _not_ with her!" Tuffnut stated.

"I'm not going with _her_ either!" Ruffnut also stated.

"Yeah…! Wait. What?"

"No, you don't understand, you _both_ have to go!" Hiccup told them, but they weren't changing their minds. "Guys, listen. Like it or not, you're connected to each other. And the two of you are connected to that dragon. Just like me with Toothless."

"And me, with Shadowstar", Aric added.

"Us too", Fishlegs jumped in.

"We can get you another spoon, another dish, _another_ stuffed yak. What we _can't_ get you is another Barf and Belch", Hiccup finished. The twins were both looking down seeming in thought. "Do you think they got any of that?" she muttered to Aric.

The two glanced at each other for a moment. "Hmm, fine", Tuffnut then said, and the two spit in their hand taking the other's in a handshake followed by bumping their heads against each other. "You know I did spit a little more on my hand."

"They got it", Aric said in confirmation.

"Okay, let's go. We're out of time", Hiccup said with urgency.

"So, why is this so important anyway?" Tuffnut asked to be answered by Snotlout.

"The Berserkers are hunting down your dragon to use its blood for ink", he casually said picking at his fingernails. Everyone just stared at him with stunned looks; Hiccup's soon turning into one of disapproval. "What? Is that not what's happening?"

After hearing what Snotlout said the twins booked it out of the cavern, and the riders went in search for Barf and Belch again with Tuffnut riding behind Hiccup and Ruffnut behind Astrid. It didn't take long for them to find the dragon still wandering through the forest, but they weren't the only ones who found them.

"No!" Tuffnut exclaimed as Berserkers hooked ropes around the Zippleback's necks, more coming in to subdue the dragon, and Hiccup led the teens to the trees to hide. "What are we doing? We need to get our dragon."

"We can't afford to be spotted by the Berserkers", Hiccup responded. Quietly, they watched the scene. Dagur, Gobber, and her father had come now, and Dagur was strolling up to Barch with a crazed look in his eye and a smile that showed just how excited he was to see the dragon's blood spill. He made it to the dragon, unsheathed his sword, and with one swing he—

Was stopped by her father. Hiccup let out the breath she was holding, and Tuffnut too took a big sigh of relief. Her dad had intercepted the sword with his own.

"How _dare_ you", Dagur said clearly not pleased.

"How dare you", her father responded. "We're supposed to slay this dragon together. And that's what we'll do. In the arena. Where _dragon killing_ is done."

Surprisingly relenting, Dagur sheathed his sword. "To the arena!" he commanded his men, and they took Barf and Belch away. As they all left Hiccup's eyes narrowed at Dagur. Her father had bought them time, but if they didn't act quick, and find a way out of this, none of it would have mattered.

The teens got out of the trees and down to the ground, the area now Berserker free.

"The chief's not gonna let them kill our dragon?" Tuffnut asked.

" "Is he?!" " both twins then wondered.

"He won't have a choice unless we can figure out a plan", Hiccup explained.

"I have a plan. One word. Annihilate!" Snotlout yelled causing Hookfang to obey the command and shoot fire at his helmet, but luckily not hitting him. "Hookfang", he grumbled.

 **"Sorry."**

"Or…not", Astrid commented.

"...Actually, that could work!" Hiccup said brightly, a plan having formed in her head.

000

"According to the treaty, the killing of the dragon must be—" Gobber tried stalling in the arena, the Zippleback subdued and ready to be slain at any moment. But, Dagur being the impatient child that he was, interrupted.

"Board!" he said shoving Gobber out of his way heading for the dragon. " _I_ want the head on the right!"

"I'm putting a stop to this", Stoick darkly said to Gobber. He'd had enough of this; if it meant war, it meant war. Unsheathing his sword, Stoick stepped up heading for Dagur who had his sword up to chop Belch's head off. He was just about to chop the kid's head first, when he heard Hiccup call.

"Help!" she yelled with poor acting running into the arena with the other teens following. "Dragon attack!" Looking up, Stoick found Hookfang on the roof of the arena firing at the Berserkers. _'Clever…'_ he thought.

"What is going on?!" Gobber yelled.

"Gobber! Dragon attack!" Stoick yelled back nudging him trying to get the hint.

Gobber's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh! Dragon attack! Everyone out of here!"

Stormfly, Shadowstar, and Meatlug then joined the picture firing spines, plasma, and Meatlug firing hugs that seemed more like tackles.

"We must protect out honored guest!" Gobber shouted grabbing Dagur who shoved him away harshly.

"Run if you want, but _Dagur_ the Deranged _will not_ retreat!"

The Zippleback then rose, and after briefly looking up created an explosion for Dagur propelling him back into a wall.

000

The plan was going seamlessly, everyone giving their dragons signs telling them exactly what to do when Dagur threw a spear at Barch and Hiccup stepped in signing for Toothless to join the party; it was time to finish this.

Toothless caught the spear saving Barf and Belch, and Dagur was in utter shock to see him. "A Night Fury", he said. "They _do_ exist!"

Toothless growled menacingly at the awestruck Berserker and it was Hiccup's turn to step in. "Back you! Fiend, you!" she said holding a shield and dagger at the Night Fury and stepping in front of Dagur. "You'll not harm my friend, Dagur!" she then said purposefully hitting Dagur with the shield and into the wall when she said his name. _'Oh that felt good'_ , she thought before giving Toothless the signal to fire. Dagur shoved her away, when Toothless prepared his plasma. And just when he was about to shoot—a blast only meant to stun in case they mistimed this—Hiccup shoved Dagur out of the way 'saving his life'.

She then shoved Dagur along to the exit, the boy hitting the floor with Hiccup completely meaning to have shoved him to the ground with her shield saying, "Please, Dagur, save yourself!" Then, she ran for Toothless, the dragon tackling her to the ground as she held her shield up as if to protect herself from the dragon trying to get his teeth into her. Her father even jumped in grabbing Toothless' tail to 'save her'. "Aw, you owe it to your people!" Hiccup then called to Dagur to get him to leave, and it worked cause after a few more blasts from Hookfang, nearly hitting him, Dagur retreated.

"Berserkers! To the boats!"

"What about the treaty?!" Gobber yelled after him.

Dagur only hesitated a moment as fire rained down on him. "Consider it signed!" he shouted, and then ran off.

Toothless got off of her, and Hiccup sighed with relief. She turned back, and saw the twins finally back on Barf and Belch doing their spit handshake again, and Hiccup was happy things were back to normal with the two.

"Well done, Hiccup. I doubt we'll be seeing much more of _Dagur_ the Deranged", her dad said and Hiccup couldn't have agreed more.

"Let's hope not", she replied.

000

… _I still think four heads is a little crazy, but I'll take crazy over deranged any day of the week._

* * *

 ***I took your suggestion The Shining Fury of better eye sight. You're right; it makes no sense to just leave that sense out. But still no claws or fire; there's just too many biological variables or, hoops to jump through as I should say.**


	15. Defiant One

**Natalie: (For your question about if I'll continue after hiatus) Yes. That's why it's called a hiatus. ;)**

 **Haha, but seriously, yes I will be doing the rest. I just wanted to take a break from it, you know. To take some time away and work on these other stories I came up with. The Heiress and the Pauper is almost at its climax as we speak, so I'll probably be posting that one first. After that's done, I'll likely return with Defenders of Berk with a new much more confident picture of Hiccup for the cover and Live and Let Fly. I have a few ideas of how Hiccup responds to the whole no flying thing.**

 **Oh and just a side note, I'm going to finally see HTTYD: The Hidden World tomorrow. Super excited; I can't wait!**

 **Alright, now onto episode 14. Only 2/3 more to go depending on if I do We are Family in one chapter or two.**

 **Note for this chapter: Snotlout goes too far.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Defiant One:**_

 _The life of a Viking can be difficult, harsh, and stormy. Nobody could make it through alone; eventually you're going to have to rely on someone. Unfortunately, we don't always get to choose that someone…_

000

"This is so lame! Why are we even out here?!" Snotlout complained. They'd been flying for hours with strong winds pushing against them, and of course Snotlout had a problem.

"Because, this is our first search and rescue mission!" Hiccup responded.

"I see a lot of _searching_ , but not much _rescuing_! Do you _even_ know where we are?!"

"My dad said the fishing boat was last seen heading south!"

"… You don't know what you're talking about!" Snotlout somehow denied looking for some reason to defy her. "There's nothing down there! I say we go north!"

"And if Hiccup said to go north?!" Aric questioned.

"... Are you trying to mess with my mind?! Because nothing gets in here! Nothing!"

The two teens just stared silently at Snotlout.

"What does our map say, Fishlegs?!" Aric then called out to him.

Hiccup turned to see the map caught on Fishlegs' face, blown there by the wind. "Kind of tough to read from this angle", he replied.

"You know what, Hiccup?! I'm done listening to you! I said north, and north is where I'm going!" Snotlout shouted over, before pulling on Hookfang trying to get him to turn around.

 **"Hey! Kid, calm down, and stay with the group!"** Hookfang roared in response.

"Hey! You work for me!" Snotlout shouted in response to his reluctance to go.

 **"Okay, if north's where you want to go, then north is where we'll go"** Hookfang then said, before suddenly turning around and flying in the direction of north recklessly with the boy screaming; he never said _how_ he wanted Hookfang to go.

"Are we just gonna let him go?" Ruffnut asked.

"Works for me", Tuffnut said in answer.

With Snotlout gone, Hiccup felt a great weight lifted off her shoulders. Finally, no more complaining. No more yelling at her that she didn't know what she was doing, no more trying to defy her at every turn no matter how much it didn't make sense. For the first time that day, she felt like she could breathe easy.

"Achem?" she heard Astrid voice, and turning back to the girl, she had the look of 'go get him before he gets himself killed'.

Hiccup groaned knowing she was right. "Alright, I'm going, I'm going!" She then turned to Aric who was still flying beside her. "Aric, lead the other's back, we'll get him. Come on, bud", she finished pulling Toothless up to turn around and head north.

It wasn't too long before she caught up to Snotlout and Hookfang who were heading for a dangerous water spout. "Whoa, look at the size of that thing", she commented. It was enormous, and Snotlout was getting far too close to it for comfort. "That water spout is way too dangerous!" she shouted at him.

"That's why I'm flying around it! Duh!"

"You're coming too close!" she warned as Hookfang was slowly being pulled in. "Look out!"

It was too late, though, as the two were sucked in spinning out of control. Hiccup directed Toothless around and towards them trying to get close enough to get them out, but not be sucked in too. Soon, Hookfang was thrown from the spout, leaving Snotlout to be sucked in further and thrashed around still caught in there alone.

"AHH! NO, NO, NO! HELP ME! HELP ME, HICCUP! AHH!"

Hiccup looked to the spinning air and water, the danger evident, but pushed forward anyway. "We're coming!" They flew forward to Snotlout, quickly catching him, but they got too close; the water spout was sucking them in as the Night Fury tried to push against it and fly away. "Toothless, get us out of here!" Then, she felt something strange, the tail fin seeming non-responsive, and when she turned to look at it she found the fabric being torn off the frame. "Oh no. Snotlout, hang on!" she screamed just before they lost control, being sucked in by the spout and thrown about.

They screamed at the top of their lungs as they were thrashed around in the water tornado, and then, just as Hookfang, the water spout spewed them out propelling them to a nearby island having no way to stop their decent. Toothless was doing his best to slow it and keep them from crashing into all the large rock formations sticking up from the ocean and the ground of the island itself. They crashed onto the ground soon after, everyone thrown and separated from each other upon impact.

000

"Ugh! Push, Gobber!" Stoick said as he and Gobber were wheeling a wagon filled with wood up the ramps.

"I'm pushing, Stoick", Gobber replied.

"Well it certainly doesn't feel like it! Push harder!" he roared inchingly pulling the cart up.

"Oh, there they are", Gobber then said looking up seeing the dragon riders landing.

"Ah, I'm glad you're back. The boat has returned", Stoick said to the kids.

"Coulda told us that before we left", Tuffnut disrespectfully said.

"Ex-cuse me?"

"Uh, nothing, Chief. That was… her", he pointed.

"Hey", Ruffnut voiced.

"Where's Hiccup?" Stoick then asked noticing his daughter wasn't with them.

"She had to double back to get Snotlout", Aric responded.

"Heh, I said leave him", Tuffnut said as he and his sister dismounted. He once again received disapproval from the chief and quickly back tracked. "Uh, her again. I don't know what her deal is?" It received him a slap from Ruffnut.

Gobber went up to Stoick who no doubt was worrying. "Nothing to worry about, Stoick. You know how hard it is to get her off that dragon." Stoick only walked off.

000

"Toothless! Where are you?!" Hiccup called as she walked a little ways on the rocky desolate island. She had woken up finding herself to be alone, Toothless nor Snotlout in sight. "Snotlout?!" She began to pick up the pace beginning to worry, when she crossed over a hill and spotted Toothless lying on the ground. "Toothless! Are you okay?" she asked running towards him. "Come on. Talk to me, bud", she then said lifting his head. He responded by licking her and Hiccup sighed with relief. "Thank Thor. That wasn't our best landing, was it?"

 **"It was better than others"** , he responded getting up.

"Awh, great", Hiccup lamented going over to Toothless' tail. "Your tail is gone, and the connecting rod is a mess. What are we supposed to do now?"

"You can start by getting me out of this stupid tree!" Snotlout called from above, hanging upside down by a branch.

Toothless simply fired a small blast up at him, knocking him out of the tree and flat on the ground on his back.

"Well that looked like it hurt", Hiccup dryly said strolling up to him.

Snotlout shook his head.

"You sure? Can you talk?"

"Go—suck—rocks."

"Hey, he's back!" Hiccup drawled unenthusiastically. "Lucky us", she finished looking to Toothless.

 **"Stop."**

 **"It's so much fun though.** Hey, where's Hookfang?" she then realized.

Snotlout became alert realizing Hookfang wasn't around either, and he then ran off calling for him. "Hookfang! Hookfang! Where are you?!" All that ever came back was an echo. "Hookfang, you get over here right now..! Hookfang! Hooky? Fangster?"

"I _don't_ think he's here, Snotlout", Hiccup said when she caught up to him.

"Obviously! Pig headed dragon."

"Don't worry. We'll find him. Now all we have to do figure out how to get out of here."

"Well, you got wings? How 'bout you use them?" Snotlout stated turning to face her.

"Snotlout, we don't know _where_ we are, and there's no telling how far from Berk. There's no way I'm just leaving you two here for however long it would take me. Besides, I'm still new. I can't fly very long distances."

"Then what good are they?" he irritably shot at her.

"Ugh, never mind. I have some spare fabric we can use."

It took some time, but eventually, after finding a place to make camp for the night, Hiccup made Toothless a new prosthetic tail. It was utterly worthless without a proper connecting rod, but it was a start. Hiccup grabbed hold of the bent piece of metal, and decided she would just have to try bending it back into shape. Finding some leverage from one of the many rock formations on the island, Hiccup wedged one end of the connecting rod between two and pushed down.

"Ugh, come on, just—OW-AH-OW!" she exclaimed with surprise and pain when the rod snapped back smacking her in the face. "Tssss… ah, that hurt."

"There is nothing to eat in here, Hiccup!" Snotlout complained after rummaging through her satchel. "What kind of search and rescue mission is this?"

"Um, instead of _complaining_ why don't you try to help me?" Hiccup retorted.

"I _am_ trying to help you. I'm trying to teach you about survival. You don't leave home without proper supplies. And on the top of that list _is food_ ", he told her while waving a biscuit in his hand.

" _Food_. You mean like that _food_ in your hand?"

"You mean this _day old_ biscuit?!"

 _'Oh, for the love of'_ Extremely annoyed, Hiccup marched up to him.

"It's even got a little spot of mold right—HEY!" Snotlout exclaimed as Hiccup then irritably snatched the biscuit from his hand.

"We've got bigger problems than a biscuit!" she yelled.

 **"Mine!"** Toothless said before snatching the biscuit from her eating it.

"He ate my biscuit!" Snotlout yelled. "What kind of dragon takes a man's biscuit?! You know his bad manners are a reflection on _you_."

Hiccup merely sighed and returned to trying to bend the connecting rod, this time pulling. "Nngh! Ugh!"

"Give me that", Snotlout said easily shoving her away. "You're doing it all wrong. You need to put some _muscle_ into it. Oh wait that's right. You can't", he laughed before taking the rod in his hands and bending the rod in the opposite direction as if trying to bend it further.

"No, no, no, be careful with that, or it might—" Hiccup face palmed.

He broke it.

"You wanted two of them, right?" he obliviously asked.

"Nope. _That_ was our only hope of getting home."

"It's not _my_ fault your dragon has _half_ a tail! Just get another rod."

"Don't you understand? We have no idea where we are!"

 **"Hiccup"** , Toothless growled with warning, and then Hiccup heard it too; voices.

"You hear that?" one sounded.

"Over there", another voiced.

"Shh…" Hiccup said before motioning for them to hide behind a nearby rock formation that also provided a peep hole.

"What do you see?" Snotlout asked.

"Would you be quiet?!" she shot at him hushed. "For all we know, we could be on a hostile island."

"Don't be such a baby. How hostile can it be?" he simply dismissed before the voices sounded again.

"Those are wild dragon tracks all right."

"Good. I feel like killing."

" _That_ hostile enough for ya?" Hiccup asked.

One of them then came close to their hiding spot and the two hid away from the hole, the man looking through for a moment before thankfully leaving.

"Nothing over there!"

"Nothing there."

Hiccup then moved back to looking through the hole, and her voice was one of dread. "I know where we are now."

"Come on, this way!"

" _That_ was Savage. Snotlout, we're on Outcast Island."

000

Stoick stared up at the gray sky, wondering where on earth his daughter and nephew were. "They've been gone for days. I thought you said they were right behind you?" Stoick said to Astrid and Fishlegs outside the academy.

"They probably set down to wait out the storm", Astrid offered.

"Wait, I see something!" Fishlegs said next pointing up to the sky. A red dragon covered in flames was flying towards them.

"It's Hookfang!" Astrid exclaimed happily before the dragon landed, but with no rider.

As Stoick went to the distressed dragon, Fishlegs' face turned to concern and he turned to Astrid. "If Hookfang is here, where's Snotlout?"

"And where are Hiccup and Toothless?" Astrid added.

"Get your dragons ready. We're heading out!" Stoick ordered, and the two teens went to gather the rest.

000

"Oucast Island?! I can't believe this?!" Hiccup exclaimed once more unable to believe their rotten luck as the two walked through Outcast Island. "We've really gotta fix this connecting rod and get out of here, or we are _dead_!" she stressed turning to Snotlout to find him eating some type of berry. "Snotlout, I'm not so sure you should be eating those berries."

"Well, _mom_ , I'm not so sure you should be telling me what to eat. Especially after you took my biscuit!" he glared at Toothless. The Night Fury then sniffed at his berries, interested in the food, when Snotlout shoved him off. "Hey, back off, these are mine!"

"Those berries could be poisonous", Hiccup cautioned.

"Hey, we're on Outcast Island. We're going into battle. We need our strength; a concept you know _nothing_ about."

"Battle the Outcasts?" Hiccup questioned continuing their trek. "Really? Just, the two of us?"

"Abtholutely", Hiccup heard him answer. But she must of heard wrong. Was there something in her ears? Or maybe…? She stopped.

"Wha-what did you just say?" she asked as she turned back around. She knew it. Snotlout's tongue was swollen.

"I thaid, abtholutely. As in, of courths."

"Oh, for the love of… I _told_ you not to eat those berries!"

"Why? Whaths wrong?"

To answer, Hiccup just pointed to a puddle on the ground. The boy looked into it, and immediately freaked out.

"Oh, no, I'm hideouth!"

"Just give me my satchel. I may have something that can help with your tongue", she told him tiredly turning away again.

"Uh… thatchel?"

"Nono, noooo…" she freaked turning to him again. "Do _not_ tell me you just _left_ it there. If someone finds that _thatchel_ we're done! It has the Berk crest on it!"

"Relax. We're thafe. Trust me, no one's gonna find it."

000

Meanwhile at the Outcast arena, Alvin was trying to 'train' dragons, only resulting in the man just hurting them, throwing a Nadder around and back in his cage when the scared dragon was defending himself from the humans who captured him in the first place.

"Will I never get these dragons to do what I want?!" Alvin yelled utterly frustrated.

"What you need is that book", one of his men said.

"No. What we need is Stoick's little girl."

"Alvin!" Savage called entering the arena with a bag in his hand. He tossed the satchel to him, and Alvin couldn't suppress the smile that crossed his face.

"The Berk crest. Ha-ha-ha, is it my birthday?!" he exclaimed joyfully.

"Uh, I didn't get him anything. What does he like?" an Outcast whispered over to his companion.

"Stop gossiping!" Alvin roared. "And bring me the owner of this bag."

"Do you want 'em alive?"

"Why not?! For now…"

000

Looking through her spyglass, Hiccup searched for the blacksmith's shop finding it just a ways down. It would take some time to walk there, but they would need the shop to be empty anyway, so that was fine.

"How long will I hab to leab my tounge in here?" Snotlout asked holding a bowl and keeping his tongue dipped in a solution Hiccup had made for him. "It's dithgusting. I saw Toothleth spit in it."

"He did indeed", Hiccup laughed getting up.

 **"You're welcome."**

"But, uh, Night Fury saliva has _incredible_ healing properties. How do you think I came to be?"

"Ugh, it tastes like yak pies."

"Well, yak pies or no, _that's_ going to help your tongue", she responded starting the path to the blacksmith's shop. "Now, come on. We have a long walk."

Night came upon them quickly, and so did their trek down to the forge. Poking her head around a rock wall, Hiccup could see, just down the path, the blacksmith leaving; this was their chance.

"Come on, we don't know how long the blacksmith is gonna be gone", she said quietly, and they continued down. Hiccup was hoping it would be a silent walk, seeing as how they needed to be stealthy, but she couldn't be so lucky.

"Betty Boda bought a bit of bitter butter. 'And', said she, 'This butter's bitter.' If I bought a bit of bitter butter I would—"

"What. Are. You. Doing?" Hiccup asked irritably roughly turning around to him with a glare.

"Enjoying my tongue again", Snotlout simply answered.

"Well I'm glad someone is." Hiccup was about to continue down the path when a Monstrous Nightmare then cut her off popping out from behind some boulders.

"Hookfang!" Snotlout exclaimed with joy, only for the dragon to turn to him and shoot his flame knocking the boy down. "Not Hookfang!"

Toothless jumped in their defense then roaring at the Monstrous Nightmare as she roared at Toothless back, each trying to intimidate the other. Then, she began to speak.

 **"What are you doing with these humans, traitor?!"**

 **"Leave them alone and you won't have to find out!"**

 **"Toothless, stop!"** Hiccup roared getting in between the two.

The Monstrous Nightmare looked to her confused by what she now saw. **"What… are you?"** she growled.

 **"I'm a friend"** , Hiccup replied followed by extending her hand to the Monstrous Nightmare, closing her eyes and turning her head away. The Monstrous Nightmare was surprised by such a display of trust and began to calm finding Hiccup to be no threat.

An arrow then shot passed them and the Monstrous Nightmare turned her fire on the Outcasts that were suddenly swarming in. The Monstrous Nightmare then quickly fled though when they began to overpower her.

"Run!" Hiccup shouted, and Snotlout and Toothless followed her lead running away from the oncoming Outcasts. They ran into a trench coming onto a dead end and Hiccup turned to Toothless. "Circle back around, bud", she told him, and with a nod he zoomed off to the left as Hiccup and Snotlout hid behind some rock formations. The Outcasts caught up to the area seeing no one in sight, but knew they couldn't be far. Toothless then poked his head above the ledge allowing the Outcasts to see him, and he led them away from the teens sending them on a wild goose chase.

Once the Outcasts were gone, the two teens came out of there hiding place, and climbing up where the Outcasts had to in order to get up on the ledge, Hiccup and Snotlout saw Toothless running fast and leading them away as planned; now all he had to do was give them the slip, which shouldn't be too hard for a Night Fury.

"Alright, we'll just wait 'till Toothless comes back, then, head to the black smith's shop", Hiccup instructed.

"No way. I'm not going anywhere near that place. You almost got us caught", Snotlout accused before climbing back down into the trench.

" _I_ almost got—?!"

She stopped going back after him.

"The only reason the Outcasts _know_ we're here is because _you_ lost my satchel with the Berk crest on it!" Hiccup pointed out.

"Well _who_ brought a satchel with the _Berk crest_ to Outcast Island?!" Snotlout shot back.

"Well I had no idea we were _going_ to Outcast Island!"

"So you're not prepared, and I get blamed. Hmm…"

"Fine. If you don't like my ideas, _please_ , please, let me hear one of yours."

Snotlout opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it having nothing to say.

"Precisely as I suspected", Hiccup said in victory.

 **"Hey, what'd I miss?"** Toothless voiced.

"There you are", Hiccup stated going up to her companion. "Good job, bud. Least _someone's_ pulling their weight around here", she added as a jab to Snotlout as she pet her dragon's head.

"Oh, _you are_ so smug!" Snotlout then insulted.

"Me?!" Hiccup exclaimed in utter disbelief. If anyone was smug it was him.

"Hiccup's _sooo_ smart, Hiccup's _sooo_ brave, she killed the Red Death, she trained the dragons, she's got the metal leg—!"

"Metal leg?! That's what's bothering you? That's where you're going?! Metal leg?!"

"No! It's _everything_ the leg is attached to!"

"Okay, well _deal_ with it, Snotlout! Because as of right now, I'm literally _all_ you've got!"

"OH! You think I _need_ you? Well news flash, princess, I _don't_ need you! You shouldn't even be heir!"

"What?!" Hiccup asked. Now where was he going? What the heck was this all about?

"That should be me! I should be the one to be future chief, _not_ you!"

"And why is that?" she asked challengingly.

"You're _weak_ , for one. _And_ you're a _girl_."

"What does my gender have to do with anything?!"

"We've _never_ had a girl chief. It's supposed to be a _man's_ job", he replied puffing out his chest like he was all that.

"Well, for your information, Snotlout,there's nothing that says the heir _has_ to be the first born son. It's either the child the chief sees fit, or, more typically, the _first born_ _child_!"

"Well then that proves it! I was born first!"

"Wha—no! It doesn't! First born of the _Chief_! You're not even a Haddock, _Jorgenson_! The only reason you're my cousin is because of my mother's sister who _is_ , and never _was_ , a Haddock!"

"Oh, right… you're mother", he started.

Hiccup's eyes widened for a moment and then narrowed angrily. _'Don't you dare…'_ Hiccup warned in thought.

"How did she die again? Oh,that's right! A _dragon_ ate her. How ironic. Wonder how she feels about _you_ right now in _Valhalla_ ", he insulted further and Hiccup was losing any bit of cool she had left.

"Don't _you EVER_ talk about my mother that way. She loved me no matter what!"

"Oh, _please_! You never even knew her!"

 **"WELL NEITHER DID YOU!"** she mistakenly roared, but frankly didn't care.

Snotlout jumped at the sudden roar, but then brushed it off. "Whatever", he said and then stormed off.

"FINE! GO OFF! LIKE I NEED YOU?! YOU'VE DONE NOTHING BUT BE A BURDEN!" Hiccup shouted out to him and then stormed off herself absolutely seething. Toothless only looked on to the both of them in confusion of what just happened.

000

Snotlout now sat at the beach seething, himself. Hiccup, Hiccup, Hiccup… It was always about Hiccup. Ever since she defeated the Red Death she suddenly thought she was all that. And on Berk, he couldn't go anywhere without someone mentioning her; that used to be _him_. _He_ used to be the best Viking, the one people would talk about and praise. Sure, he had some competition with the Hoffersons, but that was to be expected. He _knew_ Stoick would eventually make _him_ heir and throw Hiccup to the side. Then, Hiccup found Toothless, and everything changed. It turned out she was some dragon freak, dragons suddenly came into their lives, and all of a sudden it was like he was booted back to being on the same level as the twins. Even _Fishlegs_ was above him because of all his stupid dragon knowledge. His dad then became harder on him than before, pushing him to be better, saying he was losing his place, but no matter how hard he tried he was the worst when it came to dragons. He couldn't understand why.

Now, all of a sudden Hiccup was the leader, Hiccup was the one to have all the answers, to have the plan; it was always HICCUP. He was sick of it. He wished things could go back to the way they were. To when he could make fun of Hiccup, and insult her. He remembered all the times as kids when he could get under her skin, and she would just run off into the forest. He remembered how she was always too fast to catch so he and the twins would just pelt her with rocks or other objects and no one would even bat an eye. Now, it was harder. Not only had she grown in confidence, but she thought she was better than him. She wasn't. She was weak. She was just a hiccup. She was just a freak. She was just a girl who didn't know what she was doing. Like his dad said, girls shouldn't be leaders. They can't. Hiccup probably made that whole thing up when she told him it was first born child. It _had_ to be first born son. And if the chief didn't have a son, the position went to the closest family member who was a son; in other words, _him_. It made perfect sense.

At least he was able to get some rise out of her by mentioning her mother. He thought that would do it; make her back off, and run away to burst into tears. It made her roar at him instead, but it still got to her, and that was at least something. Hiccup might have thought she was someone important, but she was nothing. She was just useless. Hiccup the Useless.

 **000**

Toothless was speechless at what he just saw. One mention of her mom, and she just suddenly blew up; he'd never seen Hiccup do that. In fact, he'd never seen the two cousins fight for so long, nor so intense. Usually one of them relented and brushed off the other quickly, but this fight was different. He had looked to where Snotlout fled, but then decided he had to make sure Hiccup was okay; she was his best friend after all.

Walking a little bit, he found the girl sitting on a rock hunched over still looking mad, or at least upset. Slowly, Toothless approached her, and when she heard him she suddenly turned with a hostile growl and her pupils slit. After a moment, she calmed down some, her face softening and pupils dilating back to normal.

"Oh, it's just you", she said softly. Then she just turned back around and looked down.

 **"You want to tell me what** **that** **was all about?"** Toothless asked cautiously with a soft voice.

She didn't answer.

 **"Come on, talk to me. You can tell me anything"** , he then said pushing his head under her hand almost forcing her to pet him.

"What's there to tell? He just said my mother never loved me. Anyone would be upset about that. Especially if you never knew them." Hiccup then looked up to the sky as if searching for something. "You don't think my mom really _is_ disappointed in me, right? Dad said she had loved me from the moment I was born; that there was no hesitation. She wouldn't be… She couldn't…" she trailed off.

 **"Of course not"** , Toothless replied nuzzling her, knowing that always made her feel better. Then he looked up to the sky where she had been staring. **"I bet she's looking down right now cheering you on as proud as ever."**

Slowly, a smile crept up Hiccup's face, and she looked to him. "… Thanks, bud… And, I'm sure your parents are doing the same." Hiccup then got up. "Come on. Let's go get that connecting rod now", she said, and together they headed to the Outcast's forge.

000

The search for Snotlout, Hiccup, and Toothless had continued throughout the day without rest, nor pee breaks. Stoick was determined in finding them; Thor knows what trouble they could have gotten themselves into. It was into the night when Fishlegs spotted something.

"Hey, you guys need to see this!" Fishlegs called pointing down into the ocean.

"Okay, Stormfly, tail-flip!" Astrid instructed, and her dragon scooped the object up. When Astrid got it into her hands concern was her only reaction. "Toothless' tail…"

"But that means…" Aric started only to be interrupted by a freaking out Fishlegs.

"Oh no! But that means Toothless can't fly!"

"Yeah", Aric said deadpanned having been about to say that.

"A-A-a-and if Toothless can't fly they can't fly! I mean Hiccup can fly, _but she won't_! An-and if she won't fly then—"

"FISHLEGS! Stop! You're becoming hysterical!" Aric yelled, Fishlegs having made him become nervous himself.

"How can I not?! I mean—"

"Enough!" Stoick told them. "Those kids are probably stranded at sea! We fly close to the water!"

"Good, because I _really_ need to rinse out my helmet", Ruffnut stated, and as she did that they continued their search, now looking on the water.

 **000**

Getting back to the blacksmith's shop, it was still empty and Hiccup slipped inside through the bars of the cage-like walls. Unfortunately, Toothless couldn't fit through so Hiccup told him to go around and stay hidden. He did so, keeping watch as well, when lava fell from the sky.

 **"Wait. Lava?"**

He looked up and down jumped a blue Gronckle from the roof tackling him.

000

When Toothless went around, Hiccup walked further inside the forge finding a deep narrow bin filled with metal tools. She figured she'd find a rod in there, and digging through briefly she did. Quickly, not knowing how much time she had, Hiccup set to work on it.

 **000**

The dragons had rolled down into a trench and Toothless pushed the wild and agitated Gronckle off of him.

 **"Is every dragon here moody?!"**

 **"On this island only the strong can survive! No one can be soft, Viking lover!"**

 **"Who said I was soft?!"** Toothless roared before lunging at the Gronckle.

000

Hiccup worked at the connecting rod as fast as she could getting it to the right size and density. She was hammering at the rod when she lifted it to swing again and was stopped by a strong hand taking hold of the hammer. Her ears having gone down with fear, she turned her head to see Savage, and the man took the hammer out of her grasp throwing it to the side asking as if talking to a small child, "And what are we making? Hiccup?"

"Uh… a _gift_! For _Alvin_!" Hiccup tried. "To… _thank_ him, for his hospitality…! Oh, boy…" she sighed.

"You can thank him in person. Grab her!"

Two Outcasts came towards her and she backed away fearfully keeping her eyes on the two. She tried using the rod, swinging it at them, but the Outcast on the right only took it and threw it far having it land all the way at the entrance. Hiccup then desperately tried slinking away to the left trying to make a break for it, but the Outcast on that side grabbed her arm, yanking her back. The other followed by taking her other arm. They lifted her up and as they carried her out the forge, Hiccup struggled profusely, her wings fluttering helplessly as her feet and tail flailed about.

Turning her head back, Hiccup expected Toothless to come help her, but all she saw was a trail of lava splotches leading to where she had told him to go.

 **000**

The Gronckle lunged at Toothless, but when he dodged, the dragon followed by taking to the air and firing at the Night Fury from his hover. Toothless dodged every blast shot at him one after the other, the dragon firing relentlessly, when the Gronckle ran out of ammo giving Toothless the chance to shoot one precise blast twice shooting the dragon out of the trench. The dragon defeated, Toothless tried to climb out, but the walls were too steep, and he couldn't claw his way up. Falling back to the earth below, Toothless called for Hiccup.

No answer came.

000

"You're not the only one who can come up with a good idea, Hiccup", Snotlout said to no one as he placed his raft into the water. He backed up some to then jump onto the raft, and he cheered in victory.

"Ha-Ha! Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi! Oi! Oi…" he trailed off as he and his raft sunk into the ocean. Snotlout clambered back onto shore and laid on the sand facing the sky soaking wet. He sighed, eyes closed. "Good thing she wasn't here to see that…"

"…Toothless?" he then asked opening his eyes to find the dragon's face above his. Snotlout got up with his anger returning. "Where ever you are, Hiccup, I still don't need you!"

No answer came. That was strange; where ever Toothless was Hiccup wasn't far behind, and vice-versa. Toothless then ran over to the end of the beach where the rocky land met the sand and danced and jumped around the spot spinning. He didn't understand.

"Hiccup!" he screamed again for the same silence to be the only answer. The Night Fury then ran over to him and pushed him forward with his head. The dragon was clearly trying to tell him something. It took him a moment, but then it hit him.

"Oh! I get it. Hiccup needs my help!"

 **000**

When Hiccup didn't answer his call for help, Toothless realized something must have gone wrong while he wasn't there. Hiccup was in trouble, but he couldn't get to her. He decided to see where the path of the deep trench led to, when he ran onto the beach finding Snotlout laying on the sand. Getting him to understand that Hiccup was in trouble was a bit of a challenge, but Toothless was relieved when he finally got the human to understand.

Quickly, he led Snotlout to the last place he knew Hiccup was hoping to find anything that would help them figure out what had happened. Hiccup could have been captured, or hurt, or both; a number of things could have happened with the island holding such hostile inhabitants both human and dragon alike. When they made it back to the Outcast forge it was empty, and after kicking the door open and calling Hiccup's name, Snotlout wasn't too pleased to find that he wouldn't be saving any damsels in distress ignoring the fact that by Hiccup not being there she was likely in distress.

"Stupid dragon. She's not even here", he said as he wandered inside. He then stepped on something, and stopping briefly, Snotlout picked it up. "Hmm… this looks familiar."

It was the connecting rod Hiccup was making for his tail! She wouldn't just leave it on the ground like that; some type of struggle _must_ have happened. Toothless then noticed what he guessed to be the blacksmith coming up behind Snotlout. There was no time to warn him before the blacksmith attacked swinging his ax at the startled boy who noticed him just in time. The two fought, Snotlout holding his own dodging the Outcasts swings and putting in a few good hits of his own using the rod as a weapon. Soon, Snotlout had brought the Outcast down kicking him to the ground. Snotlout turned to him smugly, but the victory didn't last as the blacksmith lifted a hammer behind the boy.

 **"Behind you!"** Toothless roared, and the boy understood the warning with his eyes widening and turning around.

The Outcast swung, Snotlout swinging the rod to counter the hammer, but the hammer was of course superior as the rod was knocked from Snotlout's hand and near the caged wall Toothless watched from. The blacksmith swung fiercely at the Jorgenson, and Snotlout backed away evading each swing. He then tripped over a fallen barrel, landing on his back, and as the Outcast was about to deal a blow he looked to Toothless, but more specifically, the rod. Toothless looked down at the metal object in front of him, knowing what the boy was likely thinking, and after the boy rolled away from the Outcast's attack, Toothless shot a small plasma blast sending the rod in Snotlout's direction. He caught it, and with his weapon back in his hand, he used it to hit the Outcast a number of times with it followed by kicking him to Toothless who then threw the Outcast back using his flat head. The Outcast landed by a post knocked unconscious and defeated.

"You know what, Toothless? We make a pretty good team", Snotlout said coming out. "I might not give you back."

 **"Like** _ **you**_ **could keep me from my Hiccup"** , Toothless growled in response, and the kid got the hint taking his words back.

"Kidding", he said rather nervously.

Toothless then heard male voices, as well as a high pitched grunt coming from behind. Turning around and looking up, he could see Hiccup being held by her arm by one of the men keeping her from escaping. They were all taking her to who he assumed would be Alvin; the pack's Alpha. Or, tribe's Chief as humans referred.

"Let's get 'em, Toothless", Snotlout said, and after mounting onto him, Toothless let out a determined roar and leaped into the sky.

000

The Outcasts taking her to Alvin made sure to keep her grounded and moving. Hiccup tried only twice to run or fly off, but each time they either grabbed her tail, or her arm, or her leg before she could get far enough. Now, an Outcast had a hard grip on her arm pushing her along as they followed Savage up the path of the mountain.

Savage then strangely and suddenly stopped. "Stoick wouldn't have sent you here alone. Where's that Night Fury and the rest of your party?"

"Oh nooo, no, no, just me. It's just me. Taking a little vacation, you know. I heard Outcast Island is beautiful this time of year", Hiccup offered in answer.

"Oh, Alvin will get it out of you", Savage sneered in her face. "In fact, he'll _enjoy it_. But, trust me, _you won't_. Move!" he then ordered and she was pushed to follow and continue the walk to her doom.

Savage's words…? That actually scared her, although she didn't show it. She was frightened before, but now…? What was Alvin going to do to her? She could only imagine what terrible things they had planned until she would give them what they wanted. Hiccup only hoped Toothless would show up soon to get her out of this. Or Snotlout. She'd even take Snotlout. At this point she couldn't even remember why she'd been so mad.

000

It was perfect; a gift from the gods in fact. The exact girl he needed on his island and captured by Savage. "Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me!" Alvin exclaimed looking through the spyglass.

"I'm confused. Is it your birthday or not?"

"As far as you're concerned every day is me birthday. Now, prepare the dragons. Their trainer has arrived!"

000

Still being led to Alvin, and no sign of Toothless, Hiccup was beginning to worry. What if something happened to him? He hadn't come when the Outcasts had captured her. What if the Outcasts had gotten to him first? What if he was being tortured at this very moment? Her thoughts of worry were cut off when she suddenly felt like someone was watching them. She had no proof of it, as it was just that feeling one gets, but even so she couldn't shake it off.

The sound of rocks cracking then started and boulders crashed in front of them.

"Run!" someone shouted, before Hiccup was pulled away from the avalanche as they all ran.

"Toothless, now!" she heard Snotlout voice, and the next thing she knew Toothless' plasma hit the mountain and boulders crashed down before them trapping the Outcasts and herself between the walls created. That's when she looked up and saw him.

"Toothless!" she exclaimed with joy, and by the sound of it, he'd gotten Snotlout too. Hiccup leaped up wanting to fly up to him, but just not even a moment after getting air, she felt someone grab her tail and yank her down to them.

000

Sliding down into the cavern, Snotlout kicked down an Outcast followed by fighting two others including Savage. Using the connecting rod, he parried and dodged every strike. With a miscalculated move, Savage was thrown by his own momentum when the boy dodged once more. The second opponent came in with his spear then striking nonstop, making it difficult for Snotlout to get one blow at him. Luckily, Toothless came in and head butted the Outcast away.

Snotlout smiled at Toothless for the assist when he noticed Hiccup struggling furiously in an Outcast's grasp trying to pry the arm he had around her, pinning her against him, off.

000

"Hiccup!" Snotlout called as she struggled, and Hiccup saw him throw a rod hitting the man holding her. With the blow, the man let go and fell to the ground, and catching it, Hiccup then used it to hit the man over the head before he could get back up.

 **"You're alright"** , Toothless then said coming up to her so relieved.

"Oh, good to see you too", she replied holding his head as he licked her. "Thank you, bud."

Her ears then perked to the sound of someone running. "Snotlout!" she cried.

"Yaaaaah!" Savage cried running up behind Snotlout with his large bone, before Toothless promptly shot a plasma blast at him. Snotlout ducked with surprise and the shot hit Savage throwing him back to the ground. The man got up, hesitating with the three of them standing their ground together. Snotlout then suddenly went for him screaming, and Savage ran.

"Yeah! You better run!" Snotlout yelled as he chased Savage.

With Snotlout having bought her time, Hiccup quickly went to Toothless' tail and put the connecting rod into place. She only needed to make sure it was secure before they took off. Once checked, Hiccup saw Snotlout falling from one of the walls he and Toothless had created, and before he met the solid ground she mounted on Toothless and they launched into the air, grabbed him, and flew off from Alvin who had just appeared too little too late.

"Shoot 'em down!" she heard Alvin cry. In response she had Toothless do a barrel roll to evade the arrows coming their way, then Toothless stopped turning around, and fired a counter attack. Shooting at the mountain again he caused the archers to scatter from the avalanche. Then, they flipped Snotlout up landing him at the back of the saddle and fled finally making it off that horrid island.

000

"How does that ninety pound girl repeatedly defeat an entire army of blood thirsty savages?!" Alvin yelled having been so close.

"Would you like me to answer that?" Savage asked.

"I know the answer! She'll be back. Oh, if I have to bring her here myself, she'll be back."

The only question was...how?

000

"WHOO-HOO!" Hiccup yelled out with joy as they flew into the sunrise of a new day. "Do you realize what we just did?!" she asked looking back at Snotlout.

"We totally kicked butt. Duh?" Snotlout answered.

"Yah! And we kicked butt together! Look, Snotlout I'm—"

"Hungry, right?"

Hiccup only chuckled; typical Snotlout. "Yeah, exactly."

"Me too."

Hiccup only smiled as she turned to face forward again. Snotlout, of all people, saved her. Who would have ever thought?

Only a few minutes later did they see the riders, Gobber, and her dad.

"Hey, what's that?" Fishlegs asked looking as tired as ever.

"Its… Hiccup!" her dad exclaimed, before Toothless came up beside them.

"Hiccup, you're safe", her dad said relieved.

"We never had a doubt", Gobber said riding on Hookfang.

"Hello? _Other_ half of the team?" Snotlout said, before Hookfang nudged him from behind. "Hookfang!"

 **"Come here you idiot"** , Hookfang said before grabbing Snotlout in his mouth.

"I'm still mad at you!"

Hookfang flipped Snotlout up and onto his saddle in front of Gobber. **"The feeling's mutual."**

 **"What about you?"** Toothless asked.

Hiccup looked back up to Snotlout with a smile, and he looked down to her with a similar expression.

 **"The feeling's mutual"** , she answered.

000

… _Sometimes the last person you want to rely on is the one you end up being stuck with. Now, being stuck with Snotlout was no picnic. But, who knew how much I could rely on him? I guess sometimes people have a way of surprising you, and I suppose Snotlout is no exception._


	16. Breakneck Bog

**I don't think Hiccup's gonna take it too well when she finds out what really happened to her mother. You?**

 **Also, sorry for the week delay.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Breakneck Bog:**_

 _Everyone has lost something they thought they couldn't live without. Sometimes to find it again you have to be willing to do anything. Even look fear right in the eye. Just make sure you don't blink…_

000

Hiccup and Toothless were in the academy packing for a 'little field trip' as Hiccup put it. Early that morning her father had been searching for Johann as the man was late in bringing him something. Her father wouldn't tell her what this thing was, but she knew that whatever it was, it was important to him otherwise they wouldn't have spent an hour searching. So, she and Toothless were going to get it for him.

"Okey dokey, we'll start in the west islands and then work our way back", Hiccup said as she finished packing the last of the supplies.

"Back from where?" Aric asked having landed in the academy just then and overheard her.

"Ah… Oh, you know, ju-just a…quick spin around the island."

"Uh-huh", he said disbelievingly. He strolled up to Toothless opening up her satchel. "Quick spin, huh? With enough food to feed Snotlout's _whole_ family?" he questioned holding up a jug of water and a salmon.

"Did I hear my name?" Snotlout asked as he now landed in the academy. "Ooh, do I see a salmon?" At that he took the salmon from Aric eating it.

"Alright, if you _must_ know", Hiccup sighed.

"And we must", Aric confirmed.

"I'm going to do something for my father", she answered, but it didn't seem that the answer was good enough as the two just stared at her. She groaned. "Okay, Trader Johann is bringing something for him. Something important. And, he should have been here by now."

"You're not trading this salmon, are you? Cause it's delicious", Snotlout commented before Hookfang took the fish wanting a taste. Snotlout had the dragon hack it back up continuing to eat it himself. Needless to say it was disgusting.

"So, when do we leave?" Aric asked.

"I need to go alone. If we all disappear my dad will get suspicious", Hiccup protested.

"Go alone", Snotlout stated as if the idea was comical. "You without us? Like you could handle anything if we weren't there to bail you—ugh." The boy began chocking pointing to his throat for help.

Aric just looked at him for a moment as if contemplating before punching him in the gut projecting the fish that was stuck from Snotlout's mouth, Hiccup ducking away from it with a grimace.

"—out."

"Oh, alright, you two can come. But _don't_ tell the others. Don't even think about it. _Heed_ my warning, I am serious."

000

 **"Did you really think they would listen?"** Toothless asked her as they flew.

 **"Kinda hoped. I know. Stupid"** , Hiccup spoke dryly.

Evidently Aric and Snotlout couldn't keep their mouths shut. The whole gang was present; exactly the opposite of what she'd wanted.

"Hey, Hiccup", Tuffnut called. "Snotlout told us there would be salmon. And I love laches."

Hiccup sighed exasperated. "I'm pretty sure I said ' _don't_ tell the others'."

"And I'm pretty sure I didn't listen!" Snotlout shouted over.

Hiccup then turned to look at Aric giving him the look of, 'and you?'

"What?" Aric said in defense. "You know it's impossible for me to keep a secret from Astrid."

"True!" Astrid called from behind.

"Besides, it's like she's _everywhere_. For all I know she probably already ease dropped on the conversation before basically pressuring me to tell her the details."

"Also true!"

"See."

Hiccup only huffed looking forward again.

"Hiccup, aren't you always saying its better when we work as a team?" Fishlegs pointed out.

"Yeah, next time I say that, just—slap me in the face", she replied.

"I'll do it right now", Ruffnut offered.

"She will. _And_ she slaps like a guy. It's awesome, watch", Tuffnut said positioning his face to be slapped before Ruffnut did so. "Yeah…"

"Hey, down there! Look!" Aric called.

"I can't see anything through the tears."

"Is that? Johann?" Astrid questioned wondering what could have happened to the Trader. Ignoring Snotlout's joke of Johann having a bigger boat, Hiccup led everyone down to get him with Toothless scooping the unconscious man up and taking him to a nearby inlet.

When Johann woke up, it was like he was in a daze, or trapped in a state of shock. He just kept saying, "The fog…" over and over staring out into nothing. Hiccup had given him some water thinking he may have been dehydrated, and hoped it would help.

"Johann", Hiccup said after a little while trying to get his attention, to bring him back to reality. "Where's your ship?" she asked slowly.

"No idea", he answered, seeming to come out of his previous state. "All I know is one minute I was sailing in a perfectly calm sea, the wind at my back… _And the next thing I know_ , my entire ship is pulled out from under me and I'm _shark_ bait!"

"I don't…understand?" Hiccup asked confused as to what Johann just said now handing him a salmon.

"I do. I was three days late and trying to make up time! And I got _too_ close."

"Too close to what?" Fishlegs asked fearing the answer.

"Too close to… Breakneck Bog."

" "Breakneck Bog" ", everyone repeated.

"Many a ship has sailed into its waters. _Few_ have returned", Fishlegs recounted from stories told about the place.

"Our grandfather told me its pirates", Astrid recounted.

"That's ridiculous!" Snotlout protested. "Everyone knows it's haunted by a fog monster."

"A _fog monster_?" Aric questioned disbelievingly. "Come on, at least pirates actually exist. Whose gonna believe that?"

"I kinda like it", Astrid said. "There, on the misty shores of Breakneck Bog, is where the ominous fog monster lies…waiting…for its next victim…" she spoke eerily getting close to Aric, before suddenly coming out from the act. "Yeah. _So_ much more fun than pirates."

"May be fun, but it's not real. You're with me?" Aric said nudging Fishlegs. "Right Fishlegs?"

"R-r-r-right. No… fog monster?" Fishlegs said shaking.

Tuffnut snickered before approaching the cowering boy. "You sure? Cause, _legend_ says the fog monster makes this really creepy moan…" he said before demonstrating, Ruffnut trying to suppress her laughter. "Then, he surrounds you, AND SCRAPES THE SKIN OFF YOUR BONES!"

"AHH!" Fishlegs jumped.

"And then he scrapes the bones off of…whatever's under those."

"And then", Ruffnut jumped in. "It drops the bones from the sky."

"Yes! Yes, it's true!" Johann exclaimed. "What he says. It-It…sssuuurrounded me…"

"See? Fog monster. Pirates, haha, stupid grandpa", Snotlout laughed much to Astrid's displeasure.

"Johann, we _have_ to find your ship", Hiccup told him. "There's something on it for my father."

"Yes,yes,yes, there was. But, it wasn't for your father. It was for you", he responded.

"For me?" Hiccup repeated taken back. "From who?"

"He didn't tell you? It was from your mother."

"My mother…?"

"But that's impossible", Astrid commented.

"What is it?" Hiccup asked Johann needing to know.

"I have _no_ idea, lass. I just know it's in a chest with the Berk crest on it."

"I-I have to find it", Hiccup declared. "Take us back there. You-you show us where you were when you lost your ship."

"NO! NO, I WON'T!" Johann freaked scared out of his mind. "YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!" He then rose to his feet. "I HAVE A KNIFE IN MY BOOT!" he threatened. "…I don't have a knife in my boot. But no more fog _please_."

"Alright", Hiccup said with her hands out in a calming motion. "Just tell me how to find Breakneck Bog."

"Head due east. There's a group of islands in the shape of a man's hand. Breakneck Bog is the thumb."

Decided, Hiccup made a plan of action. "Snotlout, you and the twins take him back to Berk."

"Back to _Berk_?" Snotlout complained. "With this clown?" he said pointing to Johann. "And those clowns?!" he then pointed to the twins.

"Would you look at him? We don't have a choice. And if anything happens, you'll be glad you have the twins with you."

"Question! What are the rest of us doing?" Fishlegs asked.

"We're going to Breakneck Bog", Hiccup answered determinedly.

Fishlegs, knowing that answer was coming, only shook and whined in fear, but it was left ignored as the four riders mounted their dragons and headed east. Meanwhile, Fishlegs was doing everything in his power to bargain his way out.

"What if I gave you something from my mother?" he now offered, Hiccup sighing dramatically as she shook her head facing downwards. "Or, I could _give_ you my mother?! You know you love her crab cakes?" Hiccup internally face palmed.

"The fog… The fog…" Astrid then repeated in a ghostly tone behind Fishlegs.

"AHH!" the boy jumped, and Astrid only laughed.

"Tears, Astrid? Is that what you want to see?"

"Come on, sis. Quit it", Aric told her, Astrid only turning to him with an innocent look.

"Oh, come on, I'm just teasing. A little scare never hurt anyone", she replied.

"Look. There it is" Hiccup pointed, five small islands grouped together in the form of a cupped hand.

"Breakneck Bog", Aric affirmed, and they went towards the thumb as Johann said. They flew several times around the small island, but there was nothing but plants, animals, and mist; no sign of a ship at all.

"I don't get it", Hiccup said when they finally landed on the fog consumed island. "We flew all around the island, and no boat."

"Not even the remains of a boat", Astrid added too perplexed.

"You know who would take a boat?" Fishlegs started.

"Let me guess? Fog monster?" Aric questioned unimpressed.

"Yes", Fishlegs squeaked.

A roar or, screech was then heard causing Toothless to roar in defense followed by Meatlug, Stormfly, and Shadowstar.

"Settle down, bud", Hiccup calmed patting Toothless' head.

"What was that?" Aric asked.

"I don't know? Sounded like… some sort of dragon, or wild animal? I'm not sure. I've never heard that dialect before. Bud?"

 **"Dragon. Defiantly"** , he growled alert and on edge.

"Well, there's only one way to find out."

"Wait a minute", Fishlegs said as Astrid, Aric, and Hiccup all went forward. "You don't go _towards_ the weird scary sound."

"Yeah we do. We always do", Astrid replied before continuing to follow into the forest.

"I hate that about us", Fishlegs sighed. Reluctantly, he followed.

Walking through the forest, their dragons walking beside them, the four riders looked carefully around trying to see anything they might have missed while flying.

Fishlegs heard a crack, and he stopped scared stiff knowing he'd stepped on something. Reluctantly, he looked down. "Bones. That's just perfect", he lamented. Stepping over the pile of bones, he continued on with the others until another crack was heard and Shadowstar grabbed Aric out of the way of a falling anchor crashing into the ground right where he had once stood.

"Whoa… Trader Johann's ship", he said as they all looked up into the extremely tall tree, the ship sitting at the top and held by the branches there.

"Wow. He really got off course", Hiccup commented.

"Fog monster", Fishlegs muttered, and all three teens turned to him with disbelieving looks; even Astrid had worn her fun out of it.

000

They were so close, she could feel it. She knew no one would understand, but she needed to find that chest. It was from her mother. All her friends had both their parents, all being the lucky ones on Berk, and looking at their families Hiccup always wondered what it would have been like to have had her mother raise her alongside her father. Hiccup never really felt like she only had one parent with Gobber being around, and Gothi sometimes watching her at her hut, but it just wasn't the same. She wondered if her mother would have neglected her like everyone else, or if she would have been the one to encourage her? Tell her to be herself despite the fears? She wondered if her mother would have put a stop to her father's behavior. In all, she wondered just how different her life could have been had her mother been there. But, the gods had to be cruel and fate her mother with death at the claws of a dragon. Knowing what she did about dragons now, Hiccup hoped the dragon had spared her and she was still alive out there somewhere, all this time trying to get home to them. The odds were unlikely, though; for all she knew the dragon had taken her to the Red Death, dropped her in the hole and she was swallowed by the tyrannical queen never to be seen again. It hurt to think of that, but it was the most logical outcome.

But now, Hiccup had a chance to gain some connection with the woman she never knew. All she had left was that lullaby her father had taught her and the helmet he'd given her just before that faithful day in the kill ring. If this was _from_ her mother, maybe it was something her mom had wanted to give to her but never got the chance being taken away only a few weeks before her first birthday. Or, maybe it was something her mom held dear and had held onto as she was carried off eventually dropping it into the ocean. Maybe it was something she would have one day handed down to her being some type of heirloom. There were a million possibilities of what it could have been, but she'd never know until she had it.

Flying up the tree the dragons hovered over the ship. They had gone down to land, but reared back frightened.

"They're afraid. And they're dragons?" Fishlegs pointed out, Hiccup already knowing where this was headed. "So we should ask ourselves, what are we doing?" And there it was.

"The ship is far too unstable for the dragons to land. It's not gonna hold them", Hiccup corrected him. "We'll have to jump down and send the dragons below."

"Great. This is just perfect", Fishlegs muttered under his breath probably thinking Hiccup couldn't still hear him.

Locking his tail, Hiccup jumped off from Toothless onto the ship with ease landing on the deck with skill, crouched low, followed by Astrid and Aric all three landing in similar positions. They were quiet as if on a stealth mission. That is until Fishlegs came barreling down flopping onto the deck like a fish with a loud thud causing weapons lying about to rattle.

Rising, Hiccup turned to Toothless. "Toothless, ground", she said using the hand signal with it. She faced the palm of her hand down curling her fingers open and closed twice before facing her palm to the side.

 **"Come on"** , Toothless told the others and the dragons followed him down to the ground.

"Stay where you can hear daddy", Fishlegs called down to Meatlug.

 **"Daddy?"** Shadowstar questioned.

 **"What?"** Meatlug responded.

"Alright", Hiccup said getting their attention to focus on the task at hand. "Let's find this thing, and get out of here. We're looking for a chest…with the Berk crest on it."

A bone then dropped onto the deck seeming to have come from the clouds. The teens all looked to it and then to the sky perplexed and some a little scared.

"Care to explain that?" Fishlegs timidly challenged, before a shower of bones then rained upon them.

"Below deck!" Aric shouted and they all ran for cover in the ship. The bones seemed to have stopped, the sound of pounding on the deck above ceasing, and everyone could breathe a little easier.

" _What_ in the name of Thor was that?" Astrid whispered.

"Ah, it's just a little…bone shower. And it passed", Hiccup said.

"Bone shower. So I'm the only one who thinks that's weird?" Fishlegs asked.

"Um…" Aric voiced raising his hand looking very nervous himself.

"Okaayy… It's a little weird", Hiccup conceded feeling a little frightened herself, before they heard a scraping sound on wood coming from outside.

"So is that", Astrid whispered as Fishlegs closed in on himself cowering next to her.

"Okay, let's just start looking for the chest. And quickly, that really doesn't sound like friendly scraping", Hiccup rushed. Something was out there, but they couldn't leave; not yet. Not until she had that chest. Then, they would high tail it out of there as fast as possible.

000

Fishlegs wandered around the bottom of the ship like everyone else, although he kept himself small sweating up a storm. First, the island was covered in mist and fog, then that horrifying screech, then Johann's ship up in a tree, then a bone shower, and now this scratching... The fog monster theory was becoming more and more real by the moment. Did they really need that chest? Couldn't they just leave, their lives still intact?

The air was thick; something was coming for them he just knew it. He felt something touch him, something boney. Reluctantly, he turned, only to find it was a boney hand; a skeleton.

"AAHHHAAAAAHH!" he screamed jolting and running for his life until a figure with wings stood in front of him and he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Fishlegs, I found it", it said with a feminine voice.

It was just Hiccup. Holding the chest! _'Yes!'_ He stopped screaming calming down some. "Oh, oh, Thank Thor!" he said with relief. "There was a hand, no skin, all scraped off!" There was then pounding from up top again. Footsteps. _'IT'S COMING!'_

"It's coming after us!" Aric yelled reading his thoughts.

"Hide!" Hiccup shouted.

"In there!" Astrid spotted, and they all ran into the closet at the back closing the door after them as they huddled together in the closet.

000

Hiccup was clutching the chest, Fishlegs was cowering into himself pressing against them, and Aric and Astrid were in the back of the closet behind Hiccup and Fishlegs huddled against each other scared out of their minds.

Aric didn't believe it before, and was still skeptical, but that whole fog monster theory was starting to become more of a reality. Even if it wasn't a fog monster there was still the threat of danger, and for all they knew it could have been worse than a fog monster; something so much worse.

It was deathly quiet. No one dared to make a sound as they knew the threat was likely out there looking for them.

"Nobody…breathe", Hiccup whispered and as Fishlegs actually held his breath the rest just took small quiet shallow breaths. Just when they thought they were maybe safe the doors to the closet began to rattle. Aric swore whatever was out there, he'd give no mercy. He had no weapon, but he was sure after possibly tackling the creature he could grab one. The jiggling became faster, the creature about to open the door.

"I just want you to know, I love you guys", Fishlegs squeaked out.

The door opened.

""""AAAHHH—!""""

"Hey guys. Need a hand?" Tuffnut asked tauntingly holding a skeleton arm.

' _I'M GONNA KILL HIM!'_ Aric's mind screamed before he let out a yell and lunged at Tuffnut grabbing the skeletal arm beating his head with it mercilessly. Astrid then held her hand out for her brother to give her a turn, and he gladly handed the arm over stepping back. Astrid hit Tuffnut just as fiercely, followed by Ruffnut soon after just for the fun of it.

"Alright, alright, break it up you guys", Hiccup told them, but Aric wasn't finished. He took the skeleton from Ruffnut and hit Tuff one more time just for good measure. "So let me get this straight. This was all you", Hiccup said turning to Snotlout. "The bones, the scraping…"

"That's right. And this was all you. OOH! AHH! EEK!" Snotlout mocked.

"Actually, most of that was me", Fishlegs admitted.

"Oh, gods… why-why would you do that?! What were you thinking?!" Hiccup reprimanded.

"That I was gonna make you pay for sticking me with Trader Johann!" Snotlout responded.

"Where is he?"

"Don't worry about him. He's fine."

000

On a rock in the middle of the ocean was Johann, once again stranded. "Hello?!...HELP!"

000

"Just so you know, I'm not going to forget this", Aric threatened followed by whacking Snotlout in the gut with the skeleton arm. "And what's with that stupid necklace?!" He then pointed out seeing the gold plates wrapped around Snotlout's neck.

"Jealous? Just a little something I found on deck. If you want, I could grab you one? Although, I must warn ya. It's gonna cost."

"I'll pass."

A cracking sound was heard and the ship began to sway. The weight of everyone on board was too much; the ship was falling. Soon they felt weightlessness, the ship then crashing onto the ground. Everyone was scattered across the floor each in their own form of pain from the crash.

"Everybody okay?" Hiccup asked when suddenly, another sound was heard.

000

A series of clicks and hissing was heard now. _'Dragons'_ , Hiccup recognized. The dialect was new, but now she thought she could make words.

 **"Shiny." "Shiny." "Shiny." "Shiny."**

They all talked at once, the word repeated over and over like a mantra at different times. It was like being in the Great Hall with everyone talking at once, the words all muddling together. They were getting closer.

"RUN!" she yelled, but just as they were about to rush up the stairs a cloud of fog came rushing at them. To any not attuned to a dragon's voice it really would appear to be a fog monster.

"Just so you know, this fog…not us", Snotlout said.

"Oh, please fog monster, spare us", Fishlegs pleaded.

"No. It's not a fog monster. It's some type of dragon. Or, dragons," Hiccup corrected, just before the fog consumed them leaving them all blind to what was happening. There were screams of terror, the sounds of claws and metal. With an impulsive move, and not noticing the release of weight from her hands, Hiccup used her wings to create a wind to blow the smoke away needing to see. Once away it was revealed to be tiny dragons hidden in the fog. Like she suspected, there was no fog monster; the tiny gray dragons just made it look that way. The dragons, being found out and in the open in a tight space filled with seven Vikings, all scurried off in a hurry up and out of the boat. The dragons gone, it was quiet once more. A long silence of shock and trying to get their breathing back to normal ensued, until Fishlegs broke it.

"Smothering Smokebreath dragons", he muttered in shock.

Hiccup, Astrid, Aric, Snotlout, and the twins all turned to him with surprise.

"You knew about those things?!" Snotlout accused.

"Well I'd read about them, I didn't think they actually existed!" Fishlegs defended.

"So, you went with fog monster instead?" Aric said.

"Can we _please_ just get out of here", Astrid then spoke, everyone still shaken up from the dragon attack.

Hiccup was about to agree when she noticed the lack of weight in her arms. Looking down her eyes widened in horror. "Wait! The chest! I-i-its gone! I just had it!"

"Uh, too bad so sad, see you back at Berk", Tuffnut told her as he, Ruffnut, Fishlegs, and Snotlout all hurried up the steps and off the boat to their dragons. They wanted off this island, and she couldn't really blame them, but those dragons had her chest; she couldn't just leave without it.

When she made it back on deck, Toothless jumping on board to be beside her, she saw the four riders rush to their dragons just about to leave; the only ones still on the boat were her, Astrid, and Aric.

"You guys go on", Hiccup said knowing she couldn't really stop them. "I _have_ to find that chest."

"Do what you gotta do. See you when we see you", Snotlout said quickly before turning back around about to take off.

"Hold on, you guys", Astrid stopped them. "That chest is from her mom."

"Yeah, touching story. Gotta go", Tuffnut brushed off.

"Put yourselves in her shoes."

"Shoe", Snotlout corrected.

"Ugh. Fine, shoe. What if it was _your_ mother?" she questioned, and the dragons stopped walking.

000

"I hate you", Snotlout bluntly said to Astrid when they were all off their dragons and the boat. "And _this_ does not mean we're really friends", he then said turning to Hiccup.

"Thank you, guys. I mean it", she only replied knowing that they actually cared. Even Snotlout…in his own way. "Now let's go find those Smokebreaths."

The chase was on. Flying over the misty island, they scoured the area for any indication of the Smokebreaths; mainly a smoke cloud. Pretty soon, Astrid spotted it.

"There it is!" she shouted, and the teens raced for it. As soon as they came close, however, the cloud shifted splitting into two.

"They're, slitting up!" Snotlout called.

"Aric!" Hiccup yelled

"On it!" he called back getting the message to split up taking Snotlout and the twins to follow the second cloud while she took Astrid and Fishlegs to follow the first. They ended up meeting in the same place in a canon-like area with no smoke clouds in site.

"We _lost_ it", Hiccup said dismounting.

"So did we", Aric said back doing the same.

Ruff and Tuff dismounted as well like everyone else had followed, and when they looked up the two stood wide eyed. "Uh, it didn't lose us", Tuffnut warned.

A giant cloud of smoke snaked towards them, the dragons surrounding the teens, and their own dragons began to roar at the Smokebreaths, their protective instincts kicking in.

"Settle down, bud, we're alright", Hiccup told Toothless.

 **"Everyone!"** he then called to the other dragons, and Toothless leaped up with his locked tail hovering low in the air. The others followed all flapping their wings at the smoke.

"What're they doing?" Ruffnut asked.

"Oh, they're leaving us", Tuffnut complained.

"I knew Hookfang never liked me", Snotlout practically whined.

The smoke was clearing and Hiccup realized what they were up to; it was just like what she did in the ship. "No, no, no, guys, look!" Hiccup exclaimed pointing at the hundreds of Smokebreaths that had now surrounded them. They were everywhere around the canon staring down at them angrily from their perches on the walls slowly climbing down towards them with their smoke pooling from their mouths.

"Alright, Fishlegs, what do we know about the Smokebreaths?" Hiccup asked.

"They hide themselves in a veil of smoke, they're very territorial, and…uh…I forget the third thing", he answered.

The dragons then decided to make their move with several diving towards them. It was utter chaos. Smothering Smokebreaths swooped and dove for them, their own dragons firing at their attackers. The Smokebreaths were small, but they were also strong able to lift Tuffnut trying to carry him off, the boy only to be held back by Barf and Belch grabbing his boots, and able to almost pry Astrid and Aric's weapons from them when they took them out in defense. The riders all ducked and dodged from the Smokebreath's dives at them throughout the chaos then finally hopping onto their dragons in retreat. Before they flew too far, however, Hiccup stopped at the edge of the canon causing all the dragons to land as well.

"What are we doing? Why are we still here?" Fishlegs asked just wanting to leave already.

"I _can't_ leave here without that chest", Hiccup replied.

"You don't even know if they have it!" Snotlout protested.

Just then, as if the gods wanting to prove him wrong, Smothering Smokebreaths flew by with a large anchor in their grasp twenty times their size into a cave at the back of the canon.

"I have a pretty good idea", Hiccup said. "Let's get a closer look."

"Are you insane?" Aric questioned.

"I think we already established that", Hiccup countered before dismounting Toothless and quietly gliding down the canon to behind some flat rocks.

Aric frowned while the others looked unsure.

"Oh, come on, guys. You know you want to", Astrid lightly said as she dismounted as well and began making her way down.

Soon, they all made it down to where Hiccup crouched trying to peer into the cave where Smokebreaths retreated to.

"Oh. Hey guys. Honestly wasn't sure if you were gonna come", Hiccup responded to their appearance beside her. She stared out to the cave where two more Smokebreaths entered. "Fishlegs? Anything more you'd like to share?"

"U-unfortunately, yes. That third thing? The Smothering Smokebreaths build their nests out of metallic objects.

"That doesn't sound too cozy", Tuffnut commented. "Or does it?"

"It's not supposed to be. They do it to defend against attacks by bigger dragons."

Hiccup's eyes widened with fascination. "I wish I could see in there", she said almost frustratingly.

"Yeah, you do", Tuffnut then said as he looked through a spyglass backwards looking at his hand.

"Where did you get that?"

"Duh, from the ship. Or whatever that was in the tree."

She snatched the spyglass from his hand growling briefly in a nondraconic fashion. Looking through the spyglass she could see inside their nest watching as the dragons used their fire to weld all the metal they'd collected together. She looked thorough the cave some more until she found her chest lying on top of a pile yet to be welded into the nest.

"The chest! It's in there", she exclaimed hushed. "K, we've got to get them away from that pile of loot."

"Maybe we can lure them away", Aric suggested.

"With what?"

They turned to the sound of whistling finding Snotlout with his gold necklace polishing it without a care. It was unanimous. _'Perfect'_ , they all thought.

"What?" Snotlout then noticed them staring.

000

Snotlout couldn't believe this. Why did he want to come again?

"Here dragons! Got something for you!" he called waving his gold necklace in front of him. "Over here! Come get it...! I'm gonna make Hiccup _eat_ that chest", he then muttered as Smokebreaths began to swarm out from the cave towards him.

"Uh, nice dragons", he said as they'd gotten significantly closer, followed by screaming as they picked at him trying to get all his metal.

000

While the Smokebreaths were distracted with Snotlout, the others hurried into the cave to grab the chest and go. Upon entering, Hiccup spotted the chest, dismounted Toothless, raced to the mound herself, and flapping her wings a little she had climbed to the top. She was about to grab it, a wide smile spread across her face, when she heard the hissings and clicks of certain tiny dragons. Eyes widened with dread and fear.

"They're coming!" Fishlegs yelled.

"Hiccup, look out!" Aric yelled as well.

Fog enveloped the cave, hundreds of Smokebreaths probably surrounding them. At the top of the mound Hiccup clutched the chest to her side and tried to fly back down, only for the fog to block her path, the wind from her wings not enough to get rid of all the smoke that tried to consume her and take her chest away again. She fell back to the mound sitting on the hill of it holding her chest tight and her eyes wide.

"Toothless!" she called.

Her best friend came right away appearing behind her at the top of the mound and flapping his giant wings at the smoke pushing it back showing there to be no dragons actually near her; it was all a trick like in the canon, the dragons further from her than she thought. Nevertheless, she wasted no time in climbing up to the top of the mound and onto Toothless. The exit in sight, they leaped off and to their escape.

"AHH! Don't leave me!" Snotlout screamed. She turned to find the boy being welded to the nest by his necklace.

"Oh, great. Toothless! Plasma blast!" Turning right around, Toothless shot two shots at the dragons freeing Snotlout. They landed briefly for him to climb on, and once he had they shot out of there. The Smokebreaths didn't give up though. They began to follow them chasing them down, a few getting close and snapping at Snotlout's necklace. No wonder. "Snotlout, would you leave the necklace?!"

"No! It's my shiny!"

"Well it's you or your shiny!"

After about a moment he relented and threw it back, a Smokebreath catching it and leaving. Hookfang then relieved Toothless of the extra weight flipping Snotlout onto him. They still raced to escape the Smokebreaths, the rest still following them. "Okay, maybe it wasn't just the necklace."

 **"They want your chest. You stole it"** , Toothless told Hiccup.

"Hey, I retrieved it! They stole it from me!" There was no way she was giving them it. It was far more valuable than any metal they could give them. _'Wait! That's it!'_ she thought. "Everyone! Anything you have that's metal, throw it at them!" she called throwing her dagger away. Besides her leg and chest it was really all she had.

Astrid and Aric looked to each other each with their parent's sword and ax in hand. "Lost them valiantly in a ferocious battle against the fog monster of Breakneck Bog?" Aric asked his sister.

"Yep!" she agreed and they each threw them back to the dragons.

The twins through their weapons next, followed by Fishlegs who had a surprising amount of maces in Meatlug's saddlebag. Who would have thought?

With each weapon thrown, the amount of Smokebreaths lessened until they all appeared to have retreated back to their cave.

"We did it!" Snotlout yelled in victory, before Aric noticed something coming for Hiccup.

"Hiccup, look out!" he cried, but it was too late.

A Smokebreath grabbed onto Hiccup's leg trying to take it pulling her along. She held onto Toothless' handle on his saddle, the only thing keeping her from being torn from him. The tail fin then shifted, causing them to spiral towards the ground until Fishlegs came to their rescue with Meatlug flying strait for them fearlessly knocking the little dragon off.

"You will not haunt my dreams!" he yelled bravely, an event he referred to as the 'Changewing Debacle' apparently doing wonders for his increase in bravery. "Because I'll never sleep again", he then muttered; baby steps.

Free from the Smokebreath, Hiccup clambered back onto Toothless, righted the tail fin, and they were back in the air safe. Now all they had to do was grab Johann's ship, grab Johann, and return home. Then a thought occurred to Hiccup.

"Where did you say you left Johann again?"

000

"Alright! Alright, that's it! A little to the left!" Stoick instructed as Snotlout and the twins, with their dragons of course, guided Johann's ship down onto the docks.

"We're gonna have to clear the forest to fix that boat", Gobber commented seeing the barely intact ship riddled with holes.

"We're glad you're safe, Johann. Is there anything else we can do for ya", Stoick offered.

"Yes. Just give me five minutes alone with the three WHO DROPPED ME BACK IN THE OCEAN!" Johann replied furious, the three riders glancing at each other.

000

That night, the chest Hiccup had retrieved sat at the dining table. She stared at it as if freighted to open it, worried what she would find inside.

"Go ahead. Open it", Stoick encouraged, and she stared up at him for a moment before turning her attention back to the chest. Taking a breath, she reached her hands to it and opened it up, her eyes widening with recognition.

"I remember this", she said taking the small plush Deadly Nadder into her hands. It was a pale blue color worn with scuff marks, burns, and water damage.

"Aye, you should. You're mother made that for you when you were just a baby", he told her placing a hand on her shoulder around her. "Oh, you loved that toy. Carried around just about everywhere", he reminisced thinking of how carefree she was back then. Now that he thought about it she still was. That was all before she got older and he began to become stricter, harsher, more distant feeling that if she became what he had feared she would then it would hurt less. He looked down seeing his girl who'd proved just how wrong he was about…everything. He smiled. "Ah, then one night you began to have nightmares. I tried giving you the toy to hold, but you just tossed it away. You couldn't sleep for week; the dragon scared you half to death. All dragons in fact", he said now remembering her sudden change when she was just about seven or eight; it was the oddest thing and he had no idea what had caused it.

000

"I remember that… We went fishing and I snuck it on board before throwing it into the sea", Hiccup said lost in memories. When she was really little, everything was so much simpler. She'd had a friend or two, she never questioned who she was, and she remembered sometimes finding Terrible Terrors in the forest and playfully pouncing on them making them fly away. Sure, she got in trouble a lot because of her nature, but at the time she hadn't really cared; not yet anyway. The warnings hadn't gotten through to her yet.

She knew what her dad was talking about when he mentioned the nightmares. They lasted longer than only a week; they lasted years, coming and going. She just never bothered him about them when they had come back. She still remembered them like they'd only happened last night. They were gruesome horrible dreams. Most of the time she'd be standing in the middle of the village, everyone she knew lying dead around her, the ones closest to her the ones lying closest. When she would look down she'd find she possessed black demonic claws covered in blood telling her she was the one who did it. Usually that's when she'd wake up, panting or screaming unable to fall back asleep whimpering and sobbing throughout the night. Sometimes, she'd even be able to see the rest of herself if the dream continued usually in a shield lying about. She'd have green draconic slited eyes, her fangs poked out having grown in size making her look like a monster. Her wings and tail would be pointed like a demon, and her skin would be a gray color like ash. Then, some nights the dreams were of her leading the dragons in a raid, or of her watching the dragons burn the village to the ground hearing their cries, or her participating using fire of her own, sometimes even shooting lighting, and she would hear her father's voice as he and everyone she loved burned.

Hiccup shook her head, banishing the thoughts to the back of her mind. They were only dreams; none of it was true. After those dreams though she had spiraled down in fear of dragons and herself; she hadn't even been able to look at the toy she now held in her hands again. Her mother made this for her. How could she have ever thrown it away?

"How did you find it?" Hiccup finally voiced looking up at her dad after what she assumed must have been a long while of her just staring at the toy lost in thought.

"Well, it showed up in a fishing net. Trader Johann got it in trade and contacted me", he told her.

"… I was so little when mom…you know. Sometimes I think that I'm gonna forget her. But now…" She paused closing her eyes. "I love it."

"Ah, Hiccup. It would make your mother very very happy to finally hear that."

000

 _...Most people are afraid of things because they don't understand them. For me it was dragons. But one day that all changed, and my greatest fear became who I am. He became my best friend._

000

Hiccup stopped her writing to look at her old toy sitting beside her on the bed. Putting her journal and pencil down, Hiccup took it, and turned placing it on a dip in the headboard for the dragon to rest upon. She smiled looking at it, when Toothless came up behind her nudging her wanting to fly. Smiling at her best pal, she agreed. Together they went out the window atop her bed for a little midnight flight, the full moon shining bright upon them.

* * *

 **Hiccup's dreams were inspired by RadiantFire.**


	17. We Are Family

**Alright. The final chapter. After this I'll be posting The Heiress and the Pauper which I'm currently on writing chapter 10 out of...I don't know? 11? 12? Depends how I decide to break up the 3rd act I suppose. I hope you'll enjoy this ending, and also how my writing's progressed in this short time finding my own voice in this and finding more areas to stray. I believe its all a matter of me just getting more confident as time goes on, plus ya'll's support/feedback. Thanks for that.**

 **Now, on to the finale!**

* * *

 _ **We are Family**_

 _Vikings have a strong sense of community. It's important for us to be part of a family, to be part of something. This week was Bork week, the first one spent with dragons. It's a time dedicated to celebrating that connection, and to say this one was an experience is an understatement…_

000

The first morning of Bork week, Gobber was finishing up a statue greeting folks that passed by. "Happy Bork week, Magnus!" he greeted cheerfully. "And a good Bork week to you too, Seamus!"

"Cheers!"

Gobber slid down the ladder having finished his work. "And most importantly, a spectacular Bork week to you, great-great-grandpa Bork", he said gazing up at the finished statue, a testament to him.

"Best week of the year, eh, Gobber?" Mulch said joyfully as he strolled up.

"Right up there with Stump Day", he replied followed by a high-hammer/hook.

"Ah…" they then heard Mildew voice. "The good ol' days. Brings tears to me eyes. We could use a man like Bork around here."

"Tradition's a fine thing, Mildew. But things have changed. For the better if you ask me", Gobber told the old man.

"I didn't", he responded bluntly.

"We've come a long way from the times when it was us or the dragons. You might be a little less crusty if you got used to that, Mildew."

"I'll pass, thanks… When are Bork's archives going on display? You've still got that dragon-gutting dagger of his, don't ya?"

"They'll all be in the Great Hall tomorrow, don't you worry."

Mildew only grumbled as Gobber went on his merry way.

000

Down in the cove Hiccup sent out a Night Fury's call; her own call really. It was the first thing Toothless ever showed her, mainly because it was the simplest Dragonese phrase to learn. The reason? Because it meant absolutely nothing; there was no translation for it. It was just simply a call. Sometimes the call was responded, and when that happened the dragon was usually joined, or invited to join, a single or group of dragons. It was mainly used, though, for when a pack became separated since dragons don't have names. Each call was unique, telling pack members exactly who it was calling to them. The call had many purposes, or interpretations, but truthfully it was just a call; almost like a unique universal whistle or horn that everyone recognized the meaning to.

Just as Toothless taught her the call and its meaning first, when beginning to teach Fishlegs Dragonese, the boy wanting to try learning, she taught him the call first as well, showing him the different dialects that she knew. Fishlegs of course went above and beyond teaching himself as many as he could afterwards. It was then that he came up with the idea to teach everyone else about the calls for a purpose Hiccup had yet to share with everyone. So, here they were in the cove, their dragons out in the forest, and Hiccup sending out her call as demonstration while everyone sat back.

"That's why you brought us out here?! To honk into the wind?" Snotlout questioned.

"Just wait, Snotlout", Fishlegs said.

"Hmph. Dragon calls. Whatever", he mocked with a roll of his eyes hopping back to sit onto a fallen log where the twins sat leaning against. He then took out one of his Thawfest medals and began moving it around reflecting the light, the twins following it with their eyes as the light moved on a rock.

"Uh…guys?" Hiccup wondered.

"Heh-heh-heh, idiots", Snotlout laughed quietly.

"Snotlout", she reprimanded.

"So stupid…"

"Seriously?!"

"What?" he practically whined. "It's fun."

She only gave him a glare for him to cut it out.

"Ugh, fine."

"Ugh! Gone again!" Tuffnut exclaimed when Snotlout tucked his medal back into his pocket.

Deciding to ignore the idiocy, Hiccup called again, the first one not seeming to have been heard oddly.

"Aaand, _nothing_! Can we go now?" Snotlout complained again, before Toothless finally called back, a Night Fury's call returning. He then glided into the cove, the call having done its job.

"You were saying?" Aric said smugly.

"Fine! I hate to admit it, but that was pretty cool."

"Not as cool as that disappearing shiny thing", Tuffnut countered. "You can never catch it."

 **"What took you, bud? Making me look bad"** , Hiccup said coming up to Toothless.

 **"Got distracted. Sorry."**

 **"Night Furies"** , Hiccup shook her head with a playful smile. She then turned to Fishlegs. "Fishlegs, why don't you show us your call?" she offered.

"Thought you'd never ask", Fishlegs replied going up to the front. "The call of the Gronckle is unique as the dragon itself. Raw, guttural, intense…yet with a subtle lilt.

"Blah, blah, blah. Just do it already!" Snotlout shouted not wanting to hear anymore.

He sent out the Gronkle's call, the one he had wanted to learn first and foremost of course, and in only a matter of seconds Meatlug came.

"Well done, Fishlegs", Hiccup said.

"Oh, I'm not done", Fishlegs responded. "Watch this."

This time he sent out a larger call, one that was honestly a little disturbing to hear from a human's voice.

"I don't even _want_ to know what part of his body _that_ came from", Tuffnut stated. "Or do I?"

"Whoo, I gotta take a knee", Fishlegs said out of breath when he finished.

A herd of Gronckles then came flying by answering the call in their own ways telling Meatlug she was welcome to come along.

"Be home for dinner!" Fishlegs told her as she flew off with them. "You're having granite! That's her favorite."

"Okay, anybody think they can beat that?" Hiccup asked offering the others to try.

"I'll give it a shot", Astrid said. "Watch this."

She let out the call of a Nadder, and a flock of Nadders came by almost immediately.

"Good job, Astrid! First try!" Hiccup praised amazed as Astrid looked down proudly.

"Uh, I have an important question", Tuffnut stated.

Hiccup sighed. "Is it _actually_ important this time?"

"Yeah, it always is. Like, why are we even doing this anyway? I don't get it."

"Well, first of all, you never know when you're gonna be separated from your dragon. And, at that point, the only way to communicate is to call them."

"Sorry, didn't get it."

" _Second of all_ its Bork week and my dad asked us to put on a dragon air parade."

"Why do we care about this Bork guy, anyway? Wasn't he a dragon killer?" Ruffnut asked.

"Hey, Bork only killed dragons in self-defense", Fishlegs defended. "He studied them, lived and breathed them."

"And without him, we'd never have the Book of Dragons", Hiccup added in.

"And without the Book of Dragons there would be no—"

"Reason for you to live?" Snotlout guessed.

" _Dragon Academy,_ Snotlout", Aric corrected. "And there would be no really cool dragon air show either."

"So, when we do this _really cool_ dragon air show who's _he_ gonna fly with?" Snotlout asked directing to Toothless.

"I'm working on that", Hiccup sighed.

000

" _Bork, oh, Bork, we sing your song. The man who studied dragons long. Without your work there'd be no Berk. Woes the day you went berserk."_ Gobber sung as he tossed items from a high shelf up top his forge. He did so uncaringly as he sung the tune focused on what he was looking for. "Ah-ha-ha! Gotcha!" he exclaimed finding the chest and dagger he'd been searching for.

Climbing down the ladder, Gobber was about to head over to the Great Hall, when he turned and Mildew was right in front of him making the man startled for a moment. "Mildew! You don't sneak up on a man with a hook for an arm!"

"Yeah, but I've got an emergency", Mildew responded. "My wagon wheel just snapped coming into town. My cabbage is all over the road."

"Can it wait, Mildew? I've got to get these archives over to the Great Hall."

"But my cabbage Gobber?!" the old man exclaimed before groaning. "Whatever happened to customer service?"

Gobber stopped walking away just wanting the man off his back. "Alright", he relented putting the chest and dagger down. He walked off to go fix Mildew's wagon when he realized he just left Mildew alone with the archives. He went back quickly catching the man's hand inching towards the dagger lying on top of the chest. "You touch that dagger and I'll _show_ ya how well it works", he threatened, and then left trusting Mildew wouldn't mess with anything…well, more hoping. There was no telling what went on in that man's head.

000

Hiccup and Toothless each stood on a hill watching as a herd of Gronckles passed by. It was something she wished she could see Toothless be a part of. Alas, she and Toothless were each the only ones of their respective kinds. There was no one else like them, and while Hiccup had her dad, Toothless didn't really have anyone. They'd never caught sight of another Night Fury.

Hiccup sighed. "I wish there were other Night Furies for ya, bud."

Toothless sighed in a draconic way that sounded more like a moan. **"Yeah… But at least I've got you."**

Hiccup just replied with a smile and a small nod.

"There you are!" Astrid called, Stormfly landing and Astrid quickly hopping down. "Hey, check out my Nadders! I _finally_ got them flying in _perfect_ formation!" she said excitedly directing the Nadders flying overhead in a perfect 'V' formation.

"Wow, yeah…that's…that's great", Hiccup tried, although it came out insincerely as she watched the Nadders together.

"Hiccup?" Astrid questioned knowing something was wrong.

"I—I've just been thinking", Hiccup said turning to her. "Stormfly has other Nadders, Hookfang has a _whole herd_ of Monstrous Nightmares, and Toothless… Toothless has no one."

"He has _you_ , and he looks pretty happy if you ask me", Astrid said reassuringly directing to Toothless rolling happily in the grass. "Maybe you should talk to Aric. He's got a dragon without a herd too, you know."

"You know what I mean. There are _supposed_ to be other Night Furies for Toothless. But, there are none. Not around here anyway. It's like they all just disappeared."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… when I was little I wanted to know where my wings came from right? So, my dad told me the story of how he and some men from our tribe went and found a mother and her hatchlings. They were in such a rush they didn't bother killing them—thankfully—but that's not the point. Back then Night Fury sighting were pretty scarce, but _there were_ sightings. That was about 16 years ago, and Toothless' pack died about… I don't know 14…15 years ago? It's like…the species has just… disappeared after that." Hiccup turned watching as Toothless just lied in the grass without a care in the world. "After that time frame, I haven't heard anything of Night Furies being around; no one has, besides Toothless in the raids. I don't know, they could be in hiding, or maybe they just moved, or for all I know they're extinct for some reason, but all I _am_ sure of is that Toothless was meant to have a pack, and he doesn't."

"Hiccup…Toothless will be _fine_ ", Astrid consoled before heading back to Stormfly to fly off. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot", she then said as she began mounting. "Your father and Gobber are looking for you. They want to see you in the Great Hall. They looked _serious_." With that she and Stormfly left.

"Oh. Great. Happy Bork week to me", Hiccup said dryly, before she and Toothless headed off to the Great Hall. Leaving Toothless to stay outside, Hiccup opened the doors to the Great Hall finding her father and Gobber, as well as the rest of the council circled around a table whispering in hushed voices. They all turned to her with scary menacing looks.

"Okay, this is weird", she said slowly, feeling like she was a criminal being put on trial.

"Hiccup, come forward", her father said strongly, and she did although nervous of what was happening. "And hold out your hands." Slowly, and very reluctantly, she did as told, before quickly yanking her hands to behind her back out of fear of them wanting to chop them off.

"Uh, dad…Gobber…other scary looking Vikings…" Hiccup began. "I'd just like to say…in my own defense, that… I cannot control Snotlout or the twins twenty four hours a day."

"This isn't about those jokers, Hiccup", Gobber told her. "It's something really good", he then not so quietly whispered.

Her dad groaned in frustration at him before returning his attention to Hiccup. "Now then, Hiccup, as you know Bork week has begun, the first one since we made peace with the dragons. So, it has been decided that from this moment forward all things dragon related, including Bork's life's work, shall be entrusted to you and the academy."

Hiccup was speechless, and as Gobber took out a chest, resting it on the table, and took out Bork's papers, she became even more so in utter disbelief and fascination.

"This is where the Book of Dragons started", Gobber said. "Everything he ever wrote on the subject is in these notes; personal thoughts, feelings, _fears_. Even some delicious recipes."

"Whoa… I… I don't know what to say", Hiccup said so grateful. "Thank you dad", she said as she turned to him. "This is—"

"Dear, this is a big part of our history", her father began. "You and the dragons are a big part of our future. It's now up to you to take care of both."

Hiccup couldn't believe all this; who knew the types of stuff that were written in those papers. She knew exactly what she was doing tonight. Gobber put the notebooks and scrolls back into the chest, closed it, and lifted it up to hand to her, but when Hiccup went to grab it she found Gobber wouldn't actually let go as she tried pulling the chest to herself.

"Gobber…" her father droned. "Gobber!"

"Right!" Gobber finally let go causing Hiccup to stumble back a bit the chest now in her arms. "They're… _yours_ now", Gobber told her sounding pretty upset about having to part with them. Hiccup only smiled up at her dad and Gobber, and walked off with the chest. She had some reading to do.

000

It had been maybe a few hours since Hiccup had come home and began sifting through all the different notes. She wasn't exactly sure, time not really on her mind.

 **"Are you almost done?"** Toothless grumbled as he went over to his rock slab, the dragon always grumpy when he was tired.

 **"Come on, Toothless, look at all this stuff"** , Hiccup replied addressing the mess of papers and journals around her on the floor, as well as the stack of papers in her hand she was currently reading as she sat beside her bed. **"It's amazing!"**

 **"Yeah, I'm sure it is"** , he tiredly replied with a yawn before curling up for sleep.

Hiccup merely continued, placing the stack of papers down and picking up a little journal. **"These are his personal notes.** _ **Everything**_ **he observed about dragons is right here"** , she said looking through it. She flipped the page and grimaced. **"Along with some…rather interesting sketches of his neighbors.** Eugh!"she shuddered. **"Can't unsee that."** She dropped the journal to go onto something else, when the book had fallen open, and out of the corner of her eye she spotted something hidden in the corner of one of the seams of the inside book cover like a secret compartment. Her brows furrowed with interest, and she lifted the book up again taking a folded up parchment from the compartment. Unfolding it, her eyes widened.

 **"This is all on the Night Fury. It's all about you, bud."**

 **"Really"** , he responded, only briefly looking at her before closing his eyes once more.

 **"Bork didn't put any of this in the Book of Dragons!** 'My studies lead me to conclude that an entire island exists teaming with mysterious Night Furies. I call this land the Isle of Night!' The Isle of Night… the land fabled to be the home of Night Furies…" Hiccup finished in a mumble to herself.

 **"What are you talking about?"** Toothless said rising from his slumber, but still clearly tired and just wanting Hiccup to go to bed.

 **"When I was a little girl, my dad told me about the Isle of Night. Sailors would pass by seeming to see Night Furies flying overhead, and if some got too close, it was said they'd never return. It was where they found those hatchlings that saved me!"**

 **"But that was a long time ago. How do you know they're still there?"**

 **"I don't, but it couldn't hurt to try. Ugh, why didn't I think of this before?!"**

 **"Probably 'cause you don't know how to get there. That, or you're** _ **tired**_ **. It's time to sleep"** , Toothless told her nudging her hand telling her to put the papers down. She threw them to the bed behind her and held her brother's head.

 **"Toothless, we have to find that island. If we do, we find your family…"**

Toothless crooned confusion in a 'what are you talking about, my family's dead' type of way, and Hiccup quickly amended "Uh…metaphorically."

000

"What do you mean you burned them?!" Hiccup exclaimed distraught.

"I mean what I said, Hiccup", Stoick responded looking down to his daughter. They were at breakfast when she had for some reason asked for his maps to the Isle of Night. "Why do you want to go there, anyway?"

"To find more Night Furies. I _can't_ stand Toothless being the only one of his kind anymore."

"I'm sorry, dear, but the maps are gone."

"Why? Th-th-that doesn't make any sense? Why would you destroy them?!"

"Because I didn't want anyone going there. It's too dangerous, and with very little reward."

"What do you mean very little reward? I thought Night Fury saliva was a healing agent? I'd think that was a pretty good reward."

"After your mother healed I soon discovered that the saliva was only an enhancer of some sort. The ingredient to the potion was evidently only meant to increase the effects so they took less time to take hold. Your mother healed in only a day, but there was no telling how long it would have taken otherwise, and Gothi didn't want to risk it."

"And where did you guys find that out?" Hiccup questioned.

"Everything about the solution was in one of Gothi's old books from Hamish the first's time as chief. It was something she had 'conveniently' missed before Gobber and I had set out. Evidently she'd done that on purpose due to the severity of your mother's illness.

Hiccup still looked unconvinced of his actions. He had to make Hiccup understand that people would not only have wanted the healing properties of the saliva, but also the glory of facing the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, which at the time would have been thought to be a death wish. He thought for a moment when he figured out the right words to say.

"I didn't want people going on a fool's errand to try and collect the saliva when it wasn't anything more than a mere pain killer and enhancer. We were lucky. _Very lucky_. Others might have not. Why do you think the saliva's properties were never put into the Book of Dragons? Why do you think the village had only been told of how we faced a Night Fury and lived, but not of the implications?"

"…Because Vikings would be stupid enough to try and collect the stuff themselves…" Hiccup answered downcast realizing his reasoning. She then sighed in defeat. "Okay, I get it."

"Besides, hun, Night Fury sightings there haven't been reported in years. Maybe—"

"Maybe they're just in hiding", his daughter interrupted determined, her heart set on finding Toothless more Night Furies. "Night Fury nests are underground; in caves, and caverns near the sea. At least that's where Toothless' was. I'm not giving up", she said heading up the stairs. "There's gotta be something in Bork's notes that'll tell me where the Isle of Night is. And I don't care if it takes me three days to spot a Night Fury, or three weeks! I have to try!"

Stoick simply watched as his daughter went back up to her room determined on finding the Isle of Night. He only hoped she wouldn't be disappointed if all she found was nothing.

000

It had taken a little time, but soon Hiccup had gathered the riders to a mission for Bork's cave, his last known place of residence. The notes said his cave was cut in the mountains right above Odin's shield, and that's where they looked finding Bork's cave.

Now, Hiccup and Toothless were inside the dark cave, their friends outside dealing with a Thunderdrum and Changewing, Snotlout dangling helplessly from the Changewing's tail being thrown about like a toy while Astrid, Aric, and Fishlegs dealt with the Thunderdrum that was flying in a confused frenzy; all of which was curtesy of Fishlegs showing off his dragon calls.

"Alright. Let's hurry, bud", Hiccup said as they flew through the tunnel before Toothless zoomed forward.

000

The Thunderdrum chased Fishlegs down barreling through thin sea stacks to get to him. Meatlug then accidentally cornered them at the mountain. The Thunderdrum came straight for them, Fishlegs and Meatlug trembling with what was to come, when Aric made a Thunderdrum call above them. It wasn't perfect, but enough to gain the dragon's attention and have it swoop up to chase him instead of Fishlegs.

"Thank you! If I survive, I can help you fine tune that call!" Fishlegs called after him.

Meanwhile, the twins were tasked with the job to help Snotlout with the Changewing, currently using its tail to dangle Snotlout upside down from his foot.

"Oh, here's an idea", Tuffnut started. "We could blast him out."

"Yeah! Let's blast him!" Ruffnut cheered eagerly laughing.

"What?! No!" Snotlout yelled down. "No blasting! Blasting bad! Blasting hurt! Long way down!"

The twins did it anyway. Barf let out his gas, followed by Belch sparking it only resulting in the Changewing being startled onto much higher ground nearby.

"Much better! Thank you!"

"You're welcome!" Tuffnut responded.

000

Arriving into a room within the cave, Hiccup hopped off of Toothless before he lit the hearth that sat in the middle of the room, still set and usable.

"Thanks, bud", Hiccup said. Now they could both see much better, and looking up, she found a drawing on the ceiling. "What is _that_? Toothless?"

 **"Looks like one of those 'maps'"** , he said. The drawing held many islands, but two were distinct. One seemed to be of Berk on one end and the other an island with the picture of a Night Fury's head, a compass drawn on the bottom of the whole thing.

"To the Isle of Night!" Hiccup finished. "We found it, Toothless! Okay, I've got to get this down", she then said bringing out her journal and scrambling to copy the image.

The cave then shook like an explosion had hit the mountain. "What was that?" Hiccup asked slowly. A Thunderdrum's roar was heard, and the cave shook some more beginning to collapse. The fire went out and the ceiling began cracking above them along with the drawing that was sketched there. "Nononononono! Come on, I need more time!" Hiccup spoke frantic trying to get the rest of the map copied down. A piece of the ceiling fell, Toothless protecting her from it with his wing, the rock just bouncing off the scales. She peaked out from his cover for the last crucial details she needed, before slamming her journal shut with finality. "That's it! We need to get out of here!"

Another roar was heard, and the cave collapsed even further, their exit now cut off as Hiccup crouched under Toothless' wing while the cave continued to crumble.

000

The Thunderdrum roared again, Meatlug, Shadowstar, and Stormfly all dodging, and instead of hitting them it hit the mountain right at the cave's entrance. The mountain crumbled, an avalanche of rocks falling over the entrance to the cave leaving Hiccup and Toothless trapped inside.

"Oh no! Hiccup's trapped!" Astrid called.

"Uh, I'm in a tough spot myself!" Snotlout all but whined as the Changewing toyed with him using its tail like a bungee cord, sometimes letting Snotlout go only to catch him again.

"I know you think our plan didn't work, but believe me, this Changewing is playing right into our hands", Tuffnut stated as he and Ruffnut sat nonchalantly just watching Snotlout's misery.

"Sorry—ugh! I don't believe you—argh! Ohgh! Stupid dragon—AHH!" The Changewing dropped him only to be caught by this leg again. In retaliation and frustration Snotlout punched the dragon's snout, but that only proved to be a mistake when it growled. "Oh no."

000

"So this is just great", Hiccup spoke standing under Toothless' wing, the cave still crumbling around them. "We're trapped, and you can't use your shots without bringing the whole ceiling down."

Just then, with no warning, Toothless let out a strange high pitched sound that echoed throughout the cave. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! What was that?"

 **"Just wait."** Toothless' ears moved, picking up something, and then his eyes widened. **"There's another way out! Come on!"** he told her before ducking his head under her scooping her up onto his back. He sent out another one of those roars, his ears moving again as if to pick up the sound, and then rushed forward flying only Thor knows where.

"O-okay, uh, where are we going?" Hiccup asked completely lost. "And how are you seeing?!"

Soon light was coming into the cave. There was another way out as Toothless said. He rushed forward towards it as Hiccup screamed, the cave still crumbling around them, and the light source not seeming too big. The next thing Hiccup knew, they were out of the cave and outside again.

"What? Yes! We got it!" she exclaimed ecstatic. "Oh, man, what _was_ that?! You've got to teach me…whatever that was!"

 **"Maybe."**

They flew off to join the others finding Fishlegs, Astrid, and Aric with the Thunderdrum cornered on a platform on the mountain.

"Somebody call for back up?"

"Hiccup! You made it!" Astrid exclaimed with joy but also surprise.

"Please don't ask me how, cause I still have no idea", Hiccup responded.

"We've got this. Go help Snotlout", Aric told her.

When she went over to where Snotlout and the Changewing sat, Hiccup found Snotlout being hugged in the Changewing's arms, Snotlout not too happy about it. The dragon even took some grass growing on the rock, chewed it up, and spit it out landing on his helmet as if he were a newborn hatchling that she was trying to feed.

"Awe…" Hiccup cooed. "You made a new friend."

"Yeah? It's not as friendly as it looks", Snotlout said as the Changewing now lightly tugged on his hair with her teeth. It only took two shots of plasma to scare the Changewing away, and once she fled, Snotlout fell.

"Hookfang! Now!"

 **"Finally!"** Hookfang cried, as he went into action catching his rider before he went splat on a lower portion of the mountain.

"Now _that's_ how you rescue somebody!" Snotlout shouted down to the twins.

"Hey, everything went exactly as we planned", Tuffnut stated.

"Yeah. Keep the Changewing busy until Hiccup shows up", Ruffnut explained, the two high fiving each other after.

"I still can't believe you guys survived that cave in", Astrid then voiced as they all headed home.

"Neither can I!" Hiccup exclaimed still unsure of what Toothless had done. "I mean… It was all Toothless. He—he sent out this weird sound, it bounced back towards us, and somehow he used it to find his way out."

"I don't get it. How do you use sound to guide you?" Fishlegs wondered.

"I do it all the time. Whenever I hear your voice, I go the other way", Snotlout laughed.

 **"It's called echolocation. It's how we navigate through the caves"** , Toothless informed her.

"Echolocation. Interesting. You _have_ to show me how to use that", Hiccup pressed.

 **"Maybe later. I thought we were on a mission?"** Toothless practically teased.

"Right, right. You're right. Find you Night Furies first. _Then_ learn how to do that echolocation thing."

"So did you find anything?" Aric asked bellow her.

"Only a map… To the _Isle of Night_!"

"Nice! When do we leave?"

"First thing in the morning. By this time tomorrow, bud, you are going to be knee deep in Night Furies."

 **"Let's hope!"** Toothless said actually excited. He did a loop in happiness spirits rising with the hope of finding more of his kind.

000

That night, Hiccup copied down the map from her notes, and as she did, she realized something that she'd wrote down that she hadn't remembered when she told the others.

"Oh, no…" Hiccup lamented.

 **"What? What's wrong?"** Toothless inquired coming up to her desk where she sat.

 **"It says there's a reason that there's only Night Furies on that island. Turns out, you guys aren't so friendly to other dragons."**

 **"That can't be right?"**

 **"Well just because you're friendly to other dragons, doesn't mean others will too. I mean, you've spent most of your life with other dragons. Just listen to this.** 'Herds of Night Furies can be extremely hostile to other species.'" She looked to him worried. **"We can't risk it. If the others come with us on their dragons…well…"** Hiccup got up heading for her satchel that hung at the end of the bed.

 **"Just you and me then?"**

 **"Just you and me"** , Hiccup confirmed grabbing the satchel and packing some food and water. They quietly snuck out, and Hiccup climbed on to go. **"Well, this is it, Toothless. You're finally gonna see you're not alone."** She clicked in her prosthetic to his, and Toothless leaped into the air. **"Next stop, the Isle of Night."**

000

It was 'first thing in the morning' as Hiccup had said, and yet she hadn't shown. Everyone was waiting in the academy, dragons and riders, preparing to fly off to the Isle of Night.

"Hey, where's Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked, voicing what they were all thinking.

"It is morning? Right?" Tuffnut followed.

"She wouldn't", Aric muttered to himself. "Would she…?" Hiccup could have just slept in, but with Toothless always wanting his morning flights, and how determined she was to go to the isle, that was doubtful. She wouldn't have snuck out in the middle of the night, right? Then again, maybe she did. He had to check. With a pat to Shadowstar, she shot into the air towards the Haddock household. When he arrived, he didn't really think and just barged in finding Stoick in his chair wildling a duck. "Oh, I'm sorry to bother you, sir", he said realizing he just barged into the chief's house.

"Oh, it's not a problem, Aric. Just doing my morning wood work. It's quite relaxing", Stoick replied.

"Um, sir, have you seen Hiccup?"

"Well I woke up and she was already gone. Should I tell her you're looking for her?"

"How about I just…leave her a note…i-in her room."

"Ah, well, be my guest", the chief just shrugged.

Going up to Hiccup's room, he briefly looked around to find anything that might help them figure out how to follow the stupid girl. His eyes then caught her desk, one of her journals lying on it. Flipping through it, he found it was exactly what they needed.

After a quick thank you and good bye to Stoick, Aric went outside where Astrid was waiting. "Hiccup must have copied the map from her notebook. Fortunately…" he held up the notebook.

"Yes!" Astrid cheered.

"Now let's go catch that muttonhead."

000

It was a long flight through the night, but Hiccup and Toothless finally made it to the Isle of Night. It was a perfect habitat for Night Furies. Mountains coated the isle, and there were plenty next to the beaches for fishing. And, although mountainous, it wasn't desolate like Outcast Island. There were trees and bushes here and there; green, instead of the dead trees that inhabited the Outcast's isle.

 **"I don't like this…"** Toothless then said suddenly after they landed. **"Something's wrong, I can feel it. It's too quiet, and I know I've been here before. Are you sure this is the right island?"**

 **"Relax, bud. You're just nervous"** , Hiccup soothed. **"Trust me. If this map is right, you're gonna like what we find here."**

With Hiccup's encouragement, Toothless ran further inland coming to an area that dipped and rose, a nice mountainous place with a small field too that likely held a cave or two. Hiccup took a deep breath. **"Alright, you ready?"** she asked.

 **"Ready as I'll ever be."**

 **"Okay. Here goes."** Another deep breath, and then, Hiccup let out her call hearing it echo through the mountains. They waited a moment, when a response was heard. A Night Fury, not Toothless, responded to her call. **"I can't believe it! Did you hear that?!"** Hiccup said ecstatic.

Toothless let out his own call, a softer one showing uncertainty, and they heard a response again, coupled with a Night Fury showing itself in the distance. She was right! Night Furies still inhabited this place! "Look at _that_ bud! I told you!"

 **"We found them!"** Toothless responded just as happy.

"Well go on, Toothless?! Hiccup exclaimed hopping off. "Go get 'em!"

Toothless jumped ahead, landing in the small field, before turning back to Hiccup still looking a little nervous.

 **"Hey, it's okay. Go on. I'm right behind ya"** , she just encouraged, and Toothless went forward as she followed. As they moved forward, though, the unknown Night Fury didn't move. That wasn't right. Usually when a call was responded the dragon would also come towards the one who'd called first. Not only that, but Hiccup had never seen a dragon be so still as this one was, as well as she couldn't identify it's gender. Even from a distance like this she could always somehow know, but this time, there was nothing. "Something's not right", she muttered. **"Toothless, come back!"** she then roared with urgency, and the Night Fury obliged turning around only to have his legs wrapped in a bola, the dragon falling to his side. "Toothless! No!"

She ran for him, but an Outcast she caught with a glance intercepted grabbing her arm and pushing her down, pinning it against her back similar to what Astrid had done to her when practicing hand to hand combat with Gobber. She struggled in the Outcast's hold on her, her body pinned to the ground barely able to move as his hand held her in place with just the little pressure he put at the small of her back. She really hated how weak she was.

Someone then came through the mass of Outcasts that now had swarmed the area holding Toothless down and making sure that even if she escaped she wouldn't get far. Only one name passed her lips.

"Alvin", she said like it was poison.

Outcasts then wheeled the fake Night Fury through, and upon closer inspection she couldn't believe they had fallen for that. The way they made the sound seemed to have just been a large horn as well, the horn held by Savage.

"Amazingly realistic. Wouldn't you say, _Hiccup_?" Alvin sneered.

 **"Get away from her! Let go!"** Toothless roared at Alvin and the Outcasts holding her and him down, their lasso tools hooked around his neck and body. They didn't waver, only continuing to restrain him.

"Let go of him—Ugh!" Hiccup exclaimed with anger trying her best to get out of the Outcast's grip, but ultimately failing. "What do you want?" she finally demanded knowing her weak struggling was going nowhere.

"I want me own dragon trainer. And by the looks of it, I've got 'er."

"I am _not_ going to train your dragons, Alvin", Hiccup said strongly.

"Oh-ho-ho, I think you _will_. And once you have, I'll use them to _destroy_ Berk. Take her!"

"Aah!" Hiccup yelled with pain and surprise as the Outcast holding her not to gently forced her to stand up, keeping that grip on her arm behind her back, and the other hand on her shoulder. "I don't understand? How did you do this?!" she demanded, the Outcast yanking her back when she tried to step forward with fury.

000

Gobber banged on Mildew's door continuously, the old man not answering. "Mildew, open up!" he yelled. "I've got your wheel! And she's good as new!" Still no answer. "Home delivery! You don't get better customer service than this." Still nothing. Gobber banged on the door harder. "Aw come on you cranky old— I know you're in there!"

Finally having enough, Gobber just kicked the door open, only to find the house empty. But, not just empty; deserted. The house was completely hollowed out; not an item in sight. "What in the name of Odin's skivvies?"

000

The teens were just about ready to go and just as the teens were about to leave, Stoick came in on Thornado with a question they weren't ready to answer.

"Has anybody seen Hiccup?" Then, seeing what they were doing, asked another question they weren't ready for. "Where are you lot off to?"

"Uh…just a training exercise", Astrid lied before finishing saddling up Stormfly.

"Uh-huh", the chief said unconvinced, and went over to the one boy he knew he would get an answer from. "Fishlegs."

"Aah-aah!" he jumped, before placing his hands over his mouth and Aric praying he didn't spill. He did. "We're going to the Isle of Night to look for Hiccup. Could be dangerous, maybe not. Wanna come?"

Aric face palmed so hard he was afraid he'd almost given himself a concussion.

"There you are, Stoick", Gobber then voiced coming into the academy. "Strangest thing at Mildew's place. It's _completely_ cleared out. No sign of him anywhere?"

Stoick's face stilled, the man thinking. Then, he looked on with horror. "Saddle up everyone! Now!"

000

"Argh!" Hiccup grunted being pushed onto the ship by Savage. She landed beside Toothless who was restrained tight in that horrid wooden contraption for the third time that year, Hiccup's hands tied tightly behind her, and her wings pinned down to her back by the rope tied around her torso. Another man walked up the gangplank then, and Hiccup was utterly confused.

"Mildew? What are _you_ doing here?" she questioned.

"Awe, look at ya", Mildew only responded getting onto the ship. "The brightest girl on the island, and yet _here you are_ , trapped by a _silly_ old man…and his sheep.

"How could you _do_ this?" Hiccup asked astonished.

"Ah, but it was you who did it, Hiccup", Mildew replied. " _You_ believed our Bork notes, _you_ followed the map we drew you, walked _right_ into our trap. All for the love of a dragon", he mocked her. "Hmm… maybe you'll think twice next time about where you place your loyalties."

All Hiccup could do was glare at him. She knew he hated her, but this? To commit an act of treason at this caliber? To conspire with the enemy? She'd always thought he hated dragons because he was just stuck in old ways of thinking. She thought he had always just had Berk's best interest in his own twisted stubborn way. This war between them had clearly gone too far. It finally pushed him over the edge.

"Hahahahaha! There won't be a next time", Alvin stepped in. "Raise the sails! We're headed home! To _Outcast Island_ …"

The boat began sailing off, and all Hiccup could think was how she really messed up this time. If it hadn't been for her, Mildew and Alvin's plan would have never worked.

000

Finally, after the moon had risen, they had made it to the Isle of Night. With Mildew gone, and Hiccup practically missing, Aric could only hope Hiccup had been right in there still being Night Furies here and she was with them and Toothless. They would protect her should Mildew be here and trying to harm her. The timing of the situation was just too much of a coincidence, and Stoick's reaction to learning of Mildew's sudden departure only affirmed that he must have been thinking the same thing.

"Finally! The chance to see Night Furies in their natural habitat… I'm bursting at the seams!" Fishlegs exclaimed barely able to sit still on Meatlug.

"Don't wet yourself! I'm _right_ behind you!" Snotlout responded.

"Gobber and I will check the north side! You kids head south! If we find anything you'll hear it from Thornado!" Stoick told the group of teens before setting out to search with Gobber sitting behind him.

"Alright", Aric started before they went searching themselves. "This place could be crawling with Night Furies, so let's fly low until we get a sense of where Hiccup and Toothless might be and how many Night Furies there are." With that, they went in search for the two.

000

The trip to Outcast Island had taken most of the day into the evening when the sky had darkened, and when they arrived Toothless had immediately been separated from Hiccup. She hadn't seen him in what seemed to be hours now. To say she was worried was honestly an understatement.

Currently, Alvin and Savage were 'escorting' her through a dungeon carved into a mountain filled with caged dragons left and right. Well, more holes in the walls with barred doors attached. She was in hand cuffs, her hands bound in front of her, and her tail dragged behind her weighed down by another thick and heavy cuff locked around it to make sure she couldn't fly. She wasn't going anywhere any time soon, but escaping didn't exactly matter to her unless she knew where Toothless was and if he was okay.

"Where's my dragon, Alvin? Where's Toothless?!" Hiccup asked almost demanding he tell her.

"You'll see him soon enough. Don't you worry", Alvin only replied not giving her much information.

"You know, I have to admit, luring me and Toothless to the Isle of Night, building a fake Night Fury, not bad."

"Not bad", Alvin laughed. "Says the one legged Halfling in manacles."

"But turning Mildew into an Outcast? Using him against us? _Come on, Alvin_. That's low hanging fruit… even for _you_."

Savage laughed finding her statement to be hilarious for some apparent reason, but he was quickly stopped by Alvin's smack to his head.

"No one thinks you're funny, girl, now keep moving", the second in command then said followed by shoving her forward harshly.

They came up to a certain cage that Hiccup stopped at, Alvin and Savage letting her evidently. There was a Whispering Death inside, the dragon kept restrained with ropes tied to two pegs stuck in the ground. Two Outcasts were in the cage seeming to try to keep the dragon at bay in her rampage for freedom. The dragon was roaring in distress and immense anger. She burrowed herself into the ground only able to get as far as the ropes would allow her, and then popped up where the two Outcasts were, wishing that attack would have killed the Vikings.

"You know she's gonna keep doing that, right?" Hiccup told them, not able to resist. "She is a Whispering Dea—ugh", she interrupted herself in a grunt when Savage shoved her forward again.

Hiccup just walked forward until she came upon a Scauldren. The dragon was drinking some water, his jaw filling up with the liquid. He looked up at her, staring her down with his mouth filled with water. Hiccup's eyes widened realizing what the dragon was more than likely thinking. In the next moment, he spit his boiling water at her, Hiccup ducking away to hit an Outcast instead.

"A Scauldren. Impressive. You _might_ want to cut back his water."

"Oy, wright that down", Alvin muttered. Hiccup knew she shouldn't be giving them any information on dragons, but this stuff wasn't exactly secret; just plain ol' common sense.

Walking down a few more cages, Hiccup then noticed two Outcasts run into a seemingly empty cage; that is, to the untrained.

"It's escaped again!" one of the men exclaimed.

"Actually, no, he's right behind you. Changewing", Hiccup corrected.

Upon being found out the dragon revealed himself, followed by firing acid at them that mostly hit the bars of the cell.

"Whoo!" Hiccup voiced as they ducked. "Wow… You guys _really_ don't have a handle on these dragons do you?"

"Well that's why you're here", Alvin stated grabbing her shoulders. "Welcome to your new job, Hiccup." He then had them walk on, a hand still on her shoulder.

"Uh, job? Me? As inviting as that sounds…" Hiccup started shouldering off the man's hand "…I'm gonna have to pass."

"Hiccup. Hiccup. Hiccup… Why do you have to make things so _difficult_?"

"Really not the first time I've been asked that question… Toothless!" Hiccup then shouted upon seeing her best friend dangling from the ceiling of _his_ cell, his tail drooping on the floor. He was all muzzled and chained up, looking absolutely and horribly defeated. Her brother's eyes opened, and when he saw her he began thrashing trying to get to her, trying to get free. It was to no avail.

 **"I'm sorry, Hiccup…"** he apologized, a tired look on his face.

"Don't worry, Toothless! You just hang in there, I'll get you out!"

"He's not going anywhere", Alvin voiced. "And neither are you. You _will_ help me train these dragons."

"And if I _don't_?" Hiccup challenged looking up at him.

"Well, then they're no good to me. None of 'em! Especially _yours_."

It didn't seem like Alvin was giving her much choice; either train dragons, or they all die. But, despite Alvin not presenting it to her, there was an option three. She needed to escape.

Hiccup glared up at him, when Savage then took her away to her cell in a separate prison hold on the island. The area was mostly empty with only a few guards in the prison. They approached a cell when Savage began to talk.

"Can I get you anything? Food? A cozy blanket?" he was asking before opening the door, and Hiccup already knew where this was going, already board with the man's attempt at demeaning her. Did he seriously think of her as some spoiled princess? "Some warm yak milk?" he then asked, and then roughly shoved her into the cell slamming the door behind her. "Hahaha! Yak milk", Savage laughed to himself.

Hiccup only turned to watch him leave before getting to work on her cuffs. She looked around the cell to see if there was anything that could aid her, but all she saw was rock and more rock. That's when she saw a jagged rock jutting out from a wall.

"Huh. Maybe if I…" she murmured to herself going up to the pointed rock. She then placed the middle portion of her cuffs that held them together around and against the rock.

"Alright. Here we go." She pushed down pulling herself as to try and cut it in half. The method would leave her with some bracelets, but at least then she would be able to move her hands and could later pick the locks.

After a little time, the metal finally cut a little. She was getting somewhere, but it would still take a little time before her hands would be free again. Unfortunately, time was one of the many things she now lacked.

000

It had been days of searching the island, and yet not on single sighting of Hiccup and Toothless. They had tried looking underground in some caves and caverns, but there were so many, and they were all so vast, they sometimes had trouble of getting lost and finding their way back. Everyone was beginning to worry they'd never find Hiccup and Toothless.

The strangest thing, though, was that they hadn't come across any Night Furies yet. Even if the population was scarce, they would have at least seen one by now going to get food or a drink. Fishlegs had spent hours at a river just waiting for a Night Fury to show itself, and Aric had waited with him thinking it would lead them to Hiccup and Toothless, but not a single black scaled dragon appeared. It was night once more, and the riders flew around hoping to spot something from the air this time. Aric, Fishlegs, and Astrid scanning their area, they finally caught sight of something.

"Night Fury", Aric muttered. It was just sitting there perched on the rocks. "Let's check it out!" Aric called.

The riders landed in front of the dragon, but upon getting a closer look, something seemed very off about the dragon. Their first clue was the bolts seen keeping the construction together.

"Uh, guys, this isn't a—"

"NIGHT FURY!" Tuffnut's voice shouted, and an explosion from a Zippleback came destroying the decoy Nigh Fury into pieces, one flying into Fishlegs' face.

"But it's very realistic", Fishlegs noted inspecting the black slab that had now come into his possession.

"Yeah. Too realistic. Good thing we came around when we did", Tuffnut said as the twins and Snotlout landed.

"What were you thinking?!" Astrid exclaimed. "If that was Toothless, you could've killed him!"

"Yeah, well if my chicken had my horns he'd be my yak."

"And if I were weak and girly…" Ruffnut joined "…I'd be my brother."

"Yeah…! Wait. What?"

A Thunderdrum roared and everyone looked up to see Stoick and Gobber coming in for a landing. As soon as Thornado landed the two got off, Stoick seeming more eager.

"We saw the Zippleback fire from the sky. Did you find something?" Stoick asked.

"We did. A fake Night Fury", Aric told him.

"Where is it?"

"Uh…gone? Blown to pieces actually", Fishlegs answered moving his head towards the twins.

Tuffnut only shrugged.

"Eh. Well what do we have here?" Gobber said walking up to Fishlegs and taking the remaining piece of the Night Fury. He then sniffed the black sheet. "Smell this."

Fishlegs complied, and instantly regretted it gagging wondering why Gobber would have asked him to smell such a foul odor.

"Nasty, isn't it?"

"Oh! I want to smell! Put it near my face!" Tuffnut shouted with excitement.

Gobber merely ignored him continuing. "This false head was made of dragon skin, then covered with ash from a charred Loki tree."

"Loki tree? Never heard of it", Snotlout said.

"That's because it only grows in one place…" Stoick informed.

"Outcast Island", Gobber finished for the chief.

"Oh no. Hiccup is on Outcast Island…" Fishlegs said in realization.

"And she's been there this whole time…" Astrid added in as well.

000

The hand cuffs were cut in two, but Hiccup still had them on; she couldn't figure out how to pick the lock on the cuffs, the locks too small for anything she had that might have been useful. She had decided to move on to the cell door, a much bigger problem than the cuffs on her wrists and tail.

Now, after a few days of being kept in the prison, each day Alvin trying to pressure her into giving in and train dragons for him, Hiccup was trying to pick the lock on the door with her charcoal pencil they hadn't taken from her. It wasn't exactly working as she would have liked it to, just like her other numerous attempts to pick the damn lock.

As she was working at picking the lock, keeping an eye and ear out for anyone that could pass by, she heard Mildew shouting. "Alvin, I gave you what you wanted!"

Hiccup stopped to see him with Alvin and Savage, the old man also carrying his sheep with him towards a cell across from her.

"We had a deal!"

"I didn't like that deal. So, I changed it", Alvin responded as Savage shoved at Mildew.

"Oh, I believe you two know each other", Savage then toyed again when he saw Hiccup. "Don't get too chummy." He shoved Mildew into the cell. "Mildew's hours are numbered, much like you and the Night Fury."

Alvin then stepped into the cell, and she was unable to see Mildew now with the man covering him, but she got the picture of what was happening pretty quick when she heard a sheep's bah and Mildew yell in distress. "No! What're you doing with me Fugus?!"

"Preparing your final meal", Alvin responded nonchalantly as he walked out. "It's lamb."

Mildew gasped in horror running to the cage that closed in his face. "Fugus! No!" the old man screamed beginning to actually sob a little.

"Gah, Berkians. Still as dumb as the day I left."

"What have I done?!" Mildew then lamented, and Hiccup found herself actually feeling bad. She knew what it was like to be betrayed and stripped from a beloved friend; she was experiencing it right now. Then again, _he_ was the one who'd betrayed Berk and the reason Toothless was stripped away from her chained up in that cell. _He_ was the reason she was experiencing the same thing.

She decided to turn away, wanting to ignore the man's sudden show of humanity; he was probably getting what he deserved. Right now, Hiccup couldn't think about Mildew. She had to think of some way to get out. Trying to pick the lock wasn't working, but how else was she gonna get out of the cell than through the door?

Hiccup had sat for a good few hours, or maybe minutes; she wasn't sure as telling time was pretty much impossible down there, but finally it had hit her. As she was staring at the ground her mind somehow wandered to the Whispering Death.

"Of course…" she mumbled to herself.

Grabbing a good sized rock lying around, Hiccup began to get to work at digging. If she couldn't go through the door, she'd go under it. Sure, it might take her a few more days, but as long as it got her to Toothless, Hiccup didn't really care.

She began pounding at the rock of the cave floor gaining the attention of Mildew unbeknownst to her. That is until he voiced his opinions at her. "Really, this is _so_ hard to watch", he said with what sounded like pity.

"What now?" Hiccup questioned stopping her work, the man having not shut up for the past how many hours they'd been locked up. She just knew they put him there on purpose; right across from her so he could annoy to no end.

"Well I just thought Stoick raised a smarter girl than this."

' _He did. If you could just be quiet with your comments and whining and let me think!'_

"You'll never save your dragon by sitting in this cell, digging in the dirt. You need to go get him. And soon!"

"And _how_ do you propose I do _that_?" Hiccup questioned once more turning around towards him.

"By giving Alvin what he wants…"

At first, Hiccup's mind raged with 'no's and 'absolutely not's, but then when she actually thought about it, she realized what Mildew meant. He wasn't saying to give Alvin what he wants; he was saying to make him _think_ she'll give him what he wants. But Hiccup took it a step further.

Standing up and holding onto a metal bar of the cell door, Hiccup took off her prosthetic and balanced on one foot, then hid her other leg behind her right just slightly and held the metal leg behind her back. _'It's now or never.'_

"Guard! Guard! I can't take it! Please!" Hiccup shouted out, a guard soon strolling over. She kept a distressed façade as she 'pleaded' to him. "I'll tell Alvin whatever he wants to know. Just let me out of here!"

The Outcast looked down at her, and then taking out the key, he moved to unlock the door. Hiccup clutched at her prosthetic ready, and as soon as the door swung open she smashed the leg to his head as hard as she could possibly hit. The guard was propelled back from the swing, taking multiple steps to keep himself from falling until his back hit Mildew's cell. After shaking his head for a moment though, the Outcast gave her a menacing smile.

" _That_ worked a bit better in mind…" Hiccup muttered now in trouble.

The guard was starting to march over angrily, when Mildew poked his staff through the bars of his cell, hooked it around the man's shoulder, and yanked the guard back knocking his head against the door and effectively knocking him out. Hiccup put her leg back on and went for the key, which had fallen from the guard's hand, surprised by Mildew's extensive help.

"Wow…Mildew? Thanks", she told him gratefully, and the raced off to save her dragon.

"WAIT!" Mildew then shouted, however, stopping her. "Take me with you."

Hiccup could only look at him like he was crazy. "You're kidding me right?"

" _No_. I know how to get around this island", he said practically begging Hiccup. She couldn't be sure that she could trust him, though. How could she? Mildew betrayed Berk, and he _hated_ her. All of a sudden Alvin backstabs him, and he suddenly wants to help her? How could she ever trust him?

"I can help you, Hiccup. _Please_ … Let me make it up to ya."

Then again, another voice in Hiccup's head told her to believe him; to at least try and give him a second chance. That second voice was winning. Despite the other screaming at her not to, with a groaned growl to herself Hiccup went back to Mildew's cell and unlocked the door.

"Don't make me regret this, Mildew", Hiccup told him, and the two scurried off to the exit of the prison.

000

"What's the plan?!" Astrid yelled over, hoping Stoick wouldn't just be charging into Outcast Island. They would be arriving at Outcast Island soon, and they still had no plan. Astrid couldn't believe they were so stupid. Hiccup had been on Outcast Island for who knows how long now, and they were just now coming to rescue her. Who knows what Alvin was doing to Hiccup and Toothless? She only hoped they were both alright.

"Alvin knows we'll be coming in from the sky. We'll have to find another way onto Outcast Island", Stoick responded, keeping his cool. Astrid knew inside he was probably worried sick; they all did. It wasn't much of a secret that the chief was very protective over Hiccup, especially since her fight with the Red Death.

"Stoick", Gobber said pointing down to a ship sailing in the ocean.

"Is that—?"

"I think it is…"

Without telling them what the two were talking about, Thornado moved towards the ship and the riders all followed.

000

"All right, let's see what you goons did", Alvin said as he and Savage walked through the dragon pit. They first stopped at the Whispering Death's cage, the dragon trying to dig through the metal slabs nailed down. It didn't get very far only banging its teeth on the sheets and recoiling.

"Reinforced the floor with cast iron", Savage reported. "And this one", referring to the Scauldren next, "only gets enough water to keep it alive." The dragon was left with only a little trough of water to drink from. The only thing it could spew out was steam.

"The girl's proven useful already", Alvin commented pleased with the progress they'd already made. The girl hadn't given anything up yet, but he was sure before the day was up he'd be controlling these dragons.

"Ohho, you'd be quite a sight riding into Berk on _her_ _Night Fury_ ", Savage said excited by just the idea, the two beginning to walk on.

"I would, wouldn't I…? I'll have to change the name. What's worse than 'the Treacherous'? Eh?" Alvin then stopped in front of the Night Fury's cage, the dragon hanging limp as if dead. "What's wrong with the Night Fury?"

"He-he won't eat, or drink. He hasn't moved in hours", one of his guards reported from inside the cage.

"Well _keep_ him alive. If he dies, we lose our leverage with the _girl_."

000

Sneaking out of the prison turned out to be easier than expected. Not too many guards were around. The only issue was making sure Mildew kept up. They had to keep moving, and only had a small window of time before a guard who had turned their back turned back around to see them running passed. When they had finally made it to the door and outside, Mildew was panting and they stopped behind two rocks. They couldn't stay here to rest, though. They had to keep moving. She really hoped bringing Mildew along _wasn't_ a horrible idea.

"Okay. What's the quickest way to get to Toothless?" Hiccup asked.

"Through that lava field", Mildew replied pointing down to a field of dragons just down the way.

"Let's go." Hiccup was about to jog on over there, until Mildew suddenly stopped her.

"Ahah!" he exclaimed blocking her with his stick. "Wait. You _do_ realize those are wild dragons down there."

"Yep", she only replied and moved forward, Mildew grumbling the whole way.

 **000**

Toothless stayed still letting the ropes hold him as he laid limp with his eyes kept closed as if sleeping. Toothless wasn't sleeping though. He was waiting. He had to wait for the right time to strike. Sooner or later the Outcast humans would become desperate to get him to eat and drink giving him the opportunity to escape and find his sister. Dragons could go on for weeks without food, so the fact he hadn't eaten hadn't bothered him. Drinking, on the other hand, was starting to become a struggle. He was parched and knew he would soon become dehydrated, but it was worth it. As long as his plan worked it would be worth the dryness in his throat.

"Try a cod", he now heard one of the humans in his cage ask, and in the next moment he felt the tasty smelling fish against his snout, the human poking him with it. He was so tempted to take it, the sent was driving him mad. But, no. He would keep his hunger strike. For Hiccup.

"I-is it breathing?" the other human wondered.

"Wha— The fish?"

"No, you simpleton! The dragon!" Toothless heard a thump and then a plop, and then the human spoke again. "Oh, never mind. Help me with the muzzle. We have to get it to eat. If it dies we die."

They were taking off his muzzle, the thing keeping him in this contraption. Finally, his plan was working. He felt hands and the leather around his snout loosening. Finally, the blasted thing was off, and Toothless opened his eyes, growled, and roared, followed by a single plasma blast at their feet that shot the two back. He took the belt holding him in place into his jaws and pulled tearing it off of him followed by pulling one of the ropes until he was freed from all his restraints and back on his feet on the ground.

Toothless stood in front of the two humans rising onto his back paws with his wings furled out so he stood taller than them. The intimidation worked as the two then stood out of his way on each side when he went back on all fours to stroll on out. And just because he felt like it, he also wacked each one down with his tail swinging it left and right.

 **"Don't worry, Hiccup. I'm coming."** Now that he was out, it was time to find and free his Halfling.

000

They were just about to enter the field when Hiccup stopped, not only so Mildew could catch up, but to see what dragons they would need to pass. The area was filled with dragons, but they weren't very hostile ones. There were some Zipplebacks, a few Monstrous Nightmares and Gronckles, and some Deadly Nadders.

' _As long as we don't present ourselves as a threat, we should be fine'_ , Hiccup thought praying to every god that Mildew didn't start swinging that stick of his around or point it at any of the dragons.

"Well, come on then, let's go", Hiccup said, Mildew now behind her, and she swung herself over the ledge.

"Uh, let's not", Mildew responded.

"I know what I'm doing, Mildew. Just, stay behind me", she said before just jumping on ahead, the cuff on her tail making her feel heavy as she moved.

"Ah perfect. A ninety pound girl as me only shield. I'm not go—Ehh!"

Hiccup turned to find Mildew on the ground having fallen off the rocks. She sighed exasperated. She _really_ hoped this was a good idea.

 **000**

Toothless ran on through Outcast Island trying to follow Hiccup's sent. It was faint by now, and at times he lost it, but he was still able to pick fragments of it up.

"There's the Night Fury!"

Toothless looked up to see three Outcast humans in front of him with…cross bows he remembered Hiccup calling them. He screeched with surprise and turned around to find two more of them behind him.

That's when he growled as he prepared his blasts; he didn't have time for this. Toothless fired at those two before turning and firing at the other three. One was left running away, but he knocked the other four down, just knocking them out, and that was good enough. Sniffing once more, he found Hiccup's sent again. It was coming from the left, and he went on that way.

000

Hiccup and Mildew walked through the field of dragons, the dragons all eyeing them cautiously and occasionally growling something to themselves or others beside them. It was clear they were unsure whether to engage or not. Hiccup kept calm, her face straight with confidence as if she had every right to pass through their territory. If the dragons sensed fear then they might be surer of pushing the submissive out. And that might have been why they were unsure; they were likely confused. While Hiccup radiated with calmness and sureness, Mildew radiated with fear. Hiccup could even sense it, and she wasn't even facing him.

So far looks were all they were getting though, and they were just about through. All they had to do was pass through a Nadder and a Gronkle resting closer in the pathway than the rest. The Nadder on Mildew's side must have only sensed his fear, because the Nadder then got up and moved in their way flaring his wings up threateningly.

Mildew raised his staff beside her and Hiccup was quick to stop him. "No, Mildew!" she whispered placing her arm before the stick as a barrier before taking it and throwing it to the side. "The _last_ thing you want to do is threaten him."

"Me?! Threaten him?!" Mildew exclaimed.

"We have to show him he can trust us", Hiccup only told him before turning her attention back to the dragon. She approached slowly crouching slightly with her palms out in his sight as the Nadder followed her movements. "It's okay", she said softly. "We're not here to hurt you." Normally Hiccup would talk to them in their language, but she wanted to show Mildew exactly what she was doing, and if he couldn't understand her it would defeat the purpose. Either way the Nadder was calming allowing her to get close, under his wing, and near his leg. "That's it fella", she said and then reaching her hand to his scales ever so slowly, he let her pet his leg. At the contact the Nadder relaxed and his wings tucked back in, his tail going down from its upwards attack position it had been in before as well as his spines.

"That's very impressive", Mildew commented as he rose from picking his staff back up.

 **"You're the youngling everyone has been talking about"** , the Nadder then spoke.

 **"I guess?"** Hiccup responded figuring news of a dragon with human skin probably traveled just as fast if not faster than news of a human girl with wings. **"I'm called Hiccup, and that's my… companion, Mildew—"**

Before she could continue, the Nadder's attention was turned to Mildew and he hopped over to him deciding to inspect the man himself. Mildew fidgeted and reared back in freight, rooted to that one spot, until he finally stiffened as the dragon sniffed and looked him over.

"Don't worry, he's just getting to know ya", Hiccup assured. "And…just so you know, they can sense fear, so be relaxed."

"This is relaxed", Mildew muttered, his eyes closed and form as stiff as a board.

The Nadder only laughed, the man not being relaxed at all, and then nudged at Mildew trying to rub his face against his side. Mildew freaked out when the dragon touched his face. **"I like him. He's funny."**

Hiccup shook her head with a smile on her face at the both of them. "See? He wants to be friends. Isn't that nice?"

The Nadder squawked in agreement making Mildew jump and raise his staff defensively saying, "Got plenty of friends", fearfully.

Hiccup sighed. "We're gonna need a way to get passed all those guards at the dragon pit… _And_ I think we just found it". Mildew jumped again when the Nadder squawked his enjoyment, followed by giving Mildew a long large lick, the man shuddering in disgust. Hiccup watched on in amusement simply mulling over the issue of how in Midgard she was gonna get Mildew on a dragon.

 **000**

Toothless had made it inside another dungeon, Hiccup's sent much stronger now. He was close, that fact only became more apparent when he found foot prints. One with the regular human shape, and then the other a round hole; Hiccup only made those prints, and it was only confirmed by the scent of them. They were fresh too; couldn't have been more than an hour from when they were made. Hiccup must have escaped too and was trying to find him.

The only thing that didn't make sense, though, was the other set of prints beside Hiccup's. They were longer and the person had both of their feet. They were just as fresh as Hiccup's, and they smelled of that old man, Mildew. So, maybe Hiccup hadn't escaped and instead was just led away by Mildew? There was only one way to find out. Keep following his Halfling's scent.

As he walked on, he came across an Outcast on the ground; that was strange. The Outcast woke up and Toothless wasn't gonna give him the chance to think he could have the upper hand on him. He snarled at him, and the Outcast turned over sitting up and backing away as Toothless threateningly approached. His eyes were slit and narrowed and he made sure to show his teeth. The human backed himself into a cage with Hiccup's scent locking himself into the place she was likely trapped in not too long ago, and Toothless raised himself up higher than the Outcast looking down at him with anger.

"A Night Fury. With my own eyes", the human said with awe and fear.

Toothless just roared at him conveying his rage towards the human and this place. He knew the human wouldn't understand the nuisance of the roar—most humans were just dumb that way, never noticing the little things—but the human would at least get the message not to mess with him and he'd leave him alone to continue on his path to find his little Halfling.

 **"You better stay there"** , he snarled, and then scurried off once more. Wherever Hiccup was he knew he was close. He just knew it.

000

While they'd been flying they had come across Johann's ship, and now with Gobber and the riders, Stoick laid in wait below deck in Johann's ship. The trader had been more than happy to help, the man being a true ally to Berk and having a real soft spot for Hiccup. He was one of the few people in Hiccup's childhood who had always showed a constant kindness to her, and Hiccup had always loved listening to his stories as a child. Stoick often found her with Johann on the docks just sitting and listening to him ramble on and on about a certain adventure he'd had on his travels.

It was a bit cramped in the space to be honest, all the humans and dragons stuffed down there, and the kids and dragons were starting to get antsy and complain. Luckily, before all Hel broke loose with the dragons, Stoick felt the boat stop. They must have made it to Outcast Island. There were voices from above and pounding from footsteps on deck.

"Ah, Outcasts, my favorite of all the islands I travel to", they could hear Johann say. "That's right, look around. I have weapons of every imaginable description. And a little something special for my friend, Alvin…"

The door was opened, and they all stormed out taking out all the Outcasts on board. Fishlegs even contributed surprisingly. With a battle cry he slammed a trough over an Outcast's head before shoving them overboard into the ocean.

"Ha-ha. That felt really good…" he said to the girls, before asking, "Is that wrong?"

Stoick wasn't paying much attention to what the teens were doing though as he picked up an Outcast by his shirt towards him. "Now, where's my daughter and her dragon?" he sneered. He was going to get an answer. He was going to find his daughter.

000

Hiccup's hand rested on the Deadly Nadder's nose demonstrating to Mildew what to do. The dragon already trusted them, probably enough to give them a ride, but Mildew still feared him. If she wanted to get Mildew on a dragon, she'd have to start by getting him to trust a dragon.

"Now remember, Mildew. Dragon training begins and ends with trust. _Both_ of yours", she told him, and then just took his hand to the dragon's snout. She didn't force him to rest it there though; Mildew needed to do that on his own.

Mildew hesitated a moment, pulling his hand back, but then he reached his hand up to pet the Nadder's snout, the dragon allowing him to. Hiccup smiled; step one, done.

' _Time for step two.'_ "Now, climb on", she coaxed.

"Wha?"

Hiccup just climbed on herself figuring he'd follow. The weight on her tail made it harder to do the act, Hiccup being pulled down for a moment, but she managed; she really needed to get that thing off. Later, though, first things first. Mildew tried climbing on next, somehow having a tougher time than she did despite having nothing to weigh him down. He finally clambered up behind her and the seriality of it all hit her.

"Wow. _Mildew_ on a dragon. This…is gonna take some getting used to."

The Nadder then began to wobble and shift his back, the weight on his back unsettling him, and Mildew began freaking out.

"Eh, why's it doing that?! What's happening?!"

"Nunu, it's okay, it's okay", Hiccup reassured both settling Mildew and the Nadder for a moment. "He's just never had people on him before", she explained. Hiccup then spit on her hand. "A dragon's hide is dry. The moisture from your hands will soothe him", she instructed rubbing the spit from her hand on the area that connected his wing to his body. Toothless always tried to bathe her because of this insisting saliva was much better than the lotions she used. And sure, while it was much more soothing on her scales, the amount of effort and work just to wash the saliva off of her if it got into her hair or cloths just wasn't worth it; Hiccup realized that the hard way when realizing how the saliva wasn't washing out from her dress.

Mildew followed her example spitting onto his hand, Hiccup cringing from disgust at the amount and how clumsy he was doing so, and he rubbed the spit onto the dragon's side, the Nadder trilling in bliss.

 **"You ready?"** Hiccup asked him.

 **"Better. Where to?"** the Nadder asked.

 **"Just fly straight for now. I'll figure it out once we get a better vantage point."**

 **"Alright. Hold on tight."**

"Don't have to tell me twice", she muttered.

"Huh?"

Hiccup didn't have a chance to answer Mildew as the Nadder took off. Mildew screamed in surprise, or maybe it was freight, and then wrapped his arms around Hiccup's waist clinging onto her for dear life. Hiccup wasn't exactly sure how to react recoiling in awkwardness.

"Uh, you, uh…hey, okay. Uh, you know there's a lot of _dragon_ here, Mildew. Why don't you grab some of that?" Hiccup said with her arm raised up uncomfortably above the man's head that was stuck to her side as the man clung on in fear.

"Huh? Oh, fine. I'm fine", he only said in response.

He moved his position to just holding her shoulders, which Hiccup decided was much better, and she steered the Nadder in the direction she and Mildew were headed in before they had encountered him.

 **000**

Toothless had made it back outside, and after passing through an area filled with dragons lying around, Hiccup's trail just ended. She must have taken off; it was the only explanation. But if she took off, then that meant she could be anywhere. Toothless shouted out a call hoping Hiccup would hear and answer, but she must have been too far cause nothing came back. What was he gonna do now?

000

They had made it to the dragon pit, and Hiccup wasted no time in hopping off the Nadder running to Toothless' cage.

"Toothless", she exclaimed trying to keep her voice low.

When she arrived to it though, the cage was empty. "Toothless is gone."

"Ack. Alvin must have moved him", Mildew stated frustrated.

They then heard creaking, the sound of doors opening, and noticed the doors to the Scauldren, Changewing, and Whispering Death were all being opened; all three highly hostile dragons that were already very difficult to reason with when not already angry and distrustful.

"Let's see what you can do with some real wild dragons, Hiccup", Alvin's voice rang. Hiccup looked up to see him above the cages where he'd pulled the levers to let the three dragons loose.

The Nadder who'd helped them stood beside them standing his ground to protect his friends, and Hiccup glared up at Alvin as the man sneered down at her. Fine. If Alvin wanted a little show, he'd get a little show. But Hiccup was gonna make it out alive.

"Mildew, whatever happens in the next minute, do _exactly_ what I tell you", Hiccup said.

"Why?" Mildew questioned before Changewing acid was spewed towards them, the two ducking out of the way. "Eh…I'm all ears."

Hiccup stood back up eyeing all their opponents for a moment, the three all staring them down ready to lunge at any time. Then Hiccup ordered, "Get on the Nadder!"

Hiccup climbed on first, followed by Mildew not even a moment after. The dragon flared his wings and then the Whispering Death lunged at them trying to shred them with her razor teeth. The Scauldren followed spewing his boiling water at them. All the while, Alvin laughed at them likely enjoying Mildew's screams of terror.

The Whispering Death burrowed underground, and Hiccup tried to listen for where it'd pop up. She hated that ability.

"At least that one's gone!" Mildew said behind her, a false sense of security that she would have to crush.

"Uh, not really. You see, uh, Changewings shoot acid…" the ground shook. "…Scauldrens fire boiling water…" the earth rose where the Whispering Death dug, the trail leading towards where they stood. "…And Whispering Deaths hunt from underground!" she yelled nudging the Nadder to run.

"AHH! Have you lost your mind?!" Mildew yelled as the Nadder ran, the dragons all chasing them. They led them to a corner where the Scauldren and Changewing lunged, their Nadder shooting up dodging the attack. The Whispering Death emerged as well in that spot tangling itself with the Scauldren and Changewing causing the dragons to all go down in a tangled mess.

"Let's get out of here!" Hiccup shouted, and the Nadder obliged flying out from the dungeon as fast as possible into the now blue sky, a full night passed.

The dragon landed far away from that place, and both Mildew and Hiccup let out breaths of relief.

"You know your dragons, I'll give you that", Mildew told her sounding out of breath, and Hiccup just smirked at the obvious fact.

"Hiccup!" she heard her dad's voice, relief that she was safe evident, and she turned to see him, Gobber, and all the riders.

 **"There you are"** , Thornado followed as he landed.

"Oh, thank Thor you're alright!" her dad continued hopping off his dragon.

"I am", Hiccup said hopping to the ground as well. "But Toothless is in trouble."

"And Mildew is on the back of your dragon", Tuffnut whispered beside her.

"I know", Hiccup replied, the fact once again obvious.

"Weird."

Mildew grumbled in response to that, before he shouted in alarm. Hiccup turned around to see Gobber dragging the old man on the ground. "I should run you through right now!" her mentor yelled furious about to use his hammer.

"No, no, no! Gobber, Gobber, no!" Hiccup yelled, Gobber pausing in response. "He helped me escape. Dad…" Hiccup continued turning to her father "…I owe Mildew my life." Gobber dropped Mildew, and everyone else just stared at her like she'd gone crazy.

"Getting weirder", Tuffnut commented.

"I'll explain later", Hiccup said as she signaled Stormfly to shoot her magnesium blast on the cuff on her tail. She did as asked, and once free Hiccup left it at that not wanting to risk burning her wrists. "Right now, I have to get to Toothless."

"Or, bring him to you", Aric suggested. And Hiccup turned to him with a smile and a nod knowing exactly what he meant.

Going to the ledge, Hiccup took a deep breath and then let out her call, the sound echoing throughout the canyons.

 **000**

Toothless continued wandering through the island trying to see if Hiccup's scent could be picked up again, when he heard the sound of a Night Fury's call. But it wasn't any Night Fury's call; it was Hiccup's.

 **"Hiccup!"** he roared with the utmost happiness. He called back to her, and ran to where he heard the sound come from.

000

Hiccup waited a moment, her ears twitching to pick up the sound of her friend, when she heard his call. Hiccup's spirits rose and she wasted no time. She didn't even say anything to her friends. She only zoomed off of the ledge, the cuff no longer keeping her grounded, and towards the voice of her brother.

The others quickly followed, but she paid them no mind. It only took a few moments, she and her brother calling to each other again, when she saw him below in the trenched path naturally carved by the island.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup shouted with joy, and she dived towards him, the dragon not letting her land before jumping and plowing into her. They landed in a heap rolling on the ground with Hiccup ending up on her back and the Night Fury on top of her. Hiccup only laughed out without a care in the world as she pet under her dragon's chin lovingly and he nuzzled in return. "Are you okay bud?"

 **"Are you okay?"**

"Yeah."

 **"Yeah."**

000

Every one witnessed as Hiccup was tackled to the ground by her dragon, a few of the riders wincing thinking that might of hurt, Stoick thinking so himself. He quickly dismounted Thornado, followed by Gobber, to make sure she was okay, but they were greeted by the sight of Hiccup simply laughing unharmed on the ground as her and Toothless reunited.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Toothless. I'm so sorry. This was all my fault", she said sorrowfully pressing her head against his. The dragon rumbled something in response, when he then turned with slited eyes and growled upward. "Whoa! What's the matter, bud?"

"'EY, THERE! Girl! You weren't gonna leave before we finished our business were ya?!" Alvin yelled from atop a cliff. There was a growl as Hiccup stood glaring up, and Stoick couldn't tell if it was coming from Hiccup, or Toothless, or both. They both looked absolutely furious. " _That's_ what I'd expect from Stoick's _little runt_."

"Oh boy", Gobber dreaded.

"HICCUP!" Stoick yelled to his daughter. There were many things Hiccup had been called throughout her childhood, and she could have cared less about being called a runt, but to be insinuated as cowardly…that was a line Hiccup couldn't take being crossed.

He could already see it. Hiccup's eyes were slit, her fist clenched, and her growls over took her dragon's, her fangs showing through her snarl. She almost looked like she'd kill the man in a blind draconic rage.

"Hiccup, no!"

It happened too quick for him to stop it. Hiccup took the bait swinging her leg onto Toothless, clicking her prosthetic in, and taking off for Alvin.

"We got what we came for!"

She didn't listen too lost in her own fury. If you called Hiccup a coward, one way or another she was gonna prove you wrong.

"Do it, girl! I'm right here!" Alvin taunted further. Toothless' whistle emanated through the air signaling a blast about to be fired, but before Toothless could fire at the Outcast chief bolas were fired at Toothless wrapping around him and Hiccup, and they fell out of the sky rolling and bouncing painfully across the ground with Hiccup tied down on Toothless' back laying face down against him trapped. They were completely vulnerable as Outcasts charged towards them.

"They're down!" Gobber yelled the obvious.

"Dragons everybody!" Aric ordered, but when they turned around the dragons were gone.

"Uh, would love to, but, as you can see…" Tuffnut said.

"Trusting dragons", Mildew muttered. "This is what it gets ya."

"Wait! Look!" Astrid shouted pointing up, and looking up they saw their dragons flying to Hiccup and Toothless on their own. Hookfang and Stormfly shot a stream of fire at the Outcasts as Shadowstar and Thornado swooped over them in threat of attack. Barf then let out a stream of gas in front of three Outcasts on the other side of the circle of Outcasts, and Barf sparked it blocking them from coming any closer as well. Meatlug then let out the final protection method of letting out her lava into a stream circling around Hiccup and Toothless, and then Stormfly and Hookfang took them in their claws carrying them over to their riders.

Snotlout and Gobber then raced up to cut the ropes on either side of Hiccup and Toothless freeing them both from their trapped and uncomfortable positions.

"What just happened?" Hiccup asked now free and off Toothless.

"The dragons saved you on their own", Fishlegs said with amazement.

"Looks like they took their training to a whole new level", Astrid followed.

"We can catch up later!" Stoick interfered just wanting to get Hiccup back to Berk where she'd be safe. "Right now, we need to get out of here!"

Everyone agreed mounting on their dragons as more Outcasts came charging at them and racing off into the sky.

000

Everything would have been smooth sailing from there; all they had to do was get away from the island. Well, it would have been anyway, if Mildew hadn't decided to lag behind and end up hanging on the tail of the Deadly Nadder Hiccup and Mildew had ridden before, now ridden by Gobber.

"Mildew!" Hiccup shouted being the first to notice from his shout.

"Oh, for the love of Thor. Mildew, get up here!" Gobber shouted at him.

Instead of climbing up, one of Mildew's hands slipped off.

"Don't you let go old man."

"Ugh. Tell the girl I'm sorry", Mildew only said, before his grip on the dragon's tail fell away and he was falling into a cluster of Loki trees.

"Mildew!" Hiccup yelled turning Toothless around to save the man, but it was too late as he was quickly grabbed by Outcasts as soon as he hit the ground.

"Go, Hiccup! You have to leave me!" Mildew called up to her.

Arrows came flying at them, Toothless easily dodging them, and Hiccup was hesitant. Mildew had saved her. If it wasn't for his idea and good use of his staff she would have never made it out of that cage to begin with. She couldn't just not repay the favor, could she?

"He's right, hun. We can't help him now", Stoick said, and Hiccup, knowing he was right, turned back around. They flew off back to Berk leaving Mildew behind.

000

Mildew watched as the girl and her friends and father left, the plan having gone perfectly. He smiled to himself. The smartest girl on the island, and yet she had allowed herself to be fooled twice, her sympathy being her greatest weakness. The Outcast that had him cuffed turned him around and back to Alvin standing a few paces away.

"Well, well…" Alvin said, and the Outcast holding him unlocked the handcuffs.

"Not bad, eh?"

"Not bad at all. Now tell me, Mildew. What did you learn from Stoick's girl about training dragons?"

"Oh, I learned plenty, Alvin. You're going to be very pleased", Mildew responded. He then heard a sheep's bah and turned to see his old friend walking up. "Why, there you are, Fungus. You played your part well."

"You both did, Mildew", Alvin stated. "Tomorrow is a new day for the Outcasts!" he proclaimed, and his people cheered in triumph.

000

Home, and with the cuffs off her wrists, Hiccup stared at the map to the Isle of Night; completely useless. Her dad told her that Mildew had indeed drawn a map to the Isle of Night, but there were no Night Furies to be found there. They were all just…gone.

"I'm sorry we didn't find any Night Furies for ya, bud", she said to Toothless who stood beside her, throwing the parchment into the fire in front of them. She had a copy of it anyway; if she wanted to add it to maps, maybe. It wasn't like there was any danger to it. She went over to the Book of Dragons lying on the table flipping it to the page of the Night Fury. "But hey, there's nothing wrong with being one of a kind, right?"

 **"And I'm not alone"** , Toothless added flipping over the pages with his nose to the portion about Halflings. Just as Toothless was their only reference of Night Furies, Hiccup was their only reference to Halflings. They had decided to add the phenomenon to the Book of Dragons for future generations should it ever happen again, or anyone encountered one. Hiccup smiled at the reminder.

"Yeah… And it's not like they're not out there somewhere, right? Someday we'll find them, Toothless. I promise."

The door then swung open, Aric standing in the door frame. "Ugh, would you come on", Aric said irritably.

' _Did I forget something?'_ Hiccup wondered staring blankly at him.

"Bork week. The parade?"

"Oh…!" Hiccup smiled and raced off with Toothless, the two one of a kinds leading the parade. With Astrid's Nadder formation following, Hiccup and Toothless led the riders over Berk, the people cheering down below, and looking down Hiccup could see her father smiling up at her.

000

… _I learned a lot this past week. Toothless may very well be the last of his kind, but there's nothing wrong with being one of a kind I suppose. We'll just be one of a kind together. Which brings me to the most important thing I learned. A family isn't just something you're born into; it's not just a species you were born to be._

 _You would think of all people I would know that._

 _Nevertheless, a family's also the friends who stood with you, the ones who fought by your side…_

"…You know that you'll be there for them, and they'll be there for you, for the battles that are yet to come."

 **"It's like a story"** , Toothless said as he sat by her bed looking down at her book despite not knowing what any of the letters meant, but liking the pictures she sometimes had drawn on the pages. Toothless had asked her to read him some of her entrees from her journal, and Hiccup was happy to do so for him, the dragon always curious what she was writing almost every night.

 **"Huh. I guess it is"** , Hiccup said looking down at the words. She never realized it before, but it kind of was. In a way, it was like a memoir of her life since meeting Toothless; the once new journal being a gift for her fifteenth birthday. **"What should we call it?"** she decided to ask.

Toothless thought for a moment mulling over a few ideas. **"How about…How to Train Your Dragon… Since there are a bunch of lessons in there?"**

"Hmm… **How to Train Your Dragon… I kind of like it."**

Hiccup picked up her charcoal pencil from her bedside table and turned to the cover of her now unfinished memoir.

 _How to Train Your Dragon: The Great Adventures of Hiccup Haddock and Toothless the Night Fury_

 _Written by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III_

 _Book I_

000

Unbeknownst to anyone on Berk, Mildew had divulged Alvin on the secrets Hiccup had taught him, and Alvin was now with their Whispering Death. The dragon hovered in front of him, the man's hand only an inch from the dragon's face.

After a moment, she pressed her nose to his hand, and Alvin and Mildew both laughed manically in triumph. One step closer to Berk's demise.

 **=To Be Continued=**

* * *

 **Hope you all enjoyed. See you next time with Book II, Defenders of Berk.**


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